A man named Louis E. Fratangelo Jr. from Van Buren has been taken into custody on serious charges including child pornography and illicit possession of assault weapons, as announced by local law enforcement on Monday, May 8, 2023.
Previously, this individual, a 26-year-old, had been given a prison sentence for severe crimes involving minors. These included the sexual assault of a teenager and coercing minors – specifically middle school girls – into sharing indecent images, a fact that was widely reported.
Louis E. Fratangelo Jr., once a free man in Van Buren, had pleaded guilty to a significant count of 16 charges at the time, a list that encompassed severe crimes such as third-degree sexual assault, holding onto child pornography, and executing illicit surveillance on his victims. The date associated with these admissions is noted as Nov. 6.
As part of his acknowledgement of guilt, he was given an assurance of a 14-year prison sentence. The promise was exacted in exchange for his open admission of having committed these grave offenses.
However, Fratangelo Jr. attempted to renege on his admissions that Tuesday. He tried to rescind his guilty plea under the argument that he was going through a severe mental health episode, adding that he felt pressured into admitting his charges. His requests were, nevertheless, denied.
Presiding Judge Mary Anne Doherty dismissed his appeal to retract his guilty plea. Unmoved by his pleas, she upheld his prison sentence. Her words reverberated in the courtroom: ‘You are a repugnant individual. You represent pure wickedness.’
Judge Doherty’s condemnation didn’t end there. She continued, ‘You rightfully earned each day that you’ll serve in confinement.’ On an aside, it’s equally worth noting that Fratangelo Jr., infamously known as Fun Satan, was apprehended on April 28, 2023, under dramatically dire circumstances.
The arrest took place following an FBI raid on his residence. The sequence of events leading to the raid was set in motion by a call to the emergency services from a distressed middle school girl, to whom Fratangelo Jr. had shown heinous contempt by demanding inappropriate images.
In their search of his home, law enforcement uncovered a shocking cache of child pornography. The sheer volume of illicit images — around 50,000 — pointed towards a deeply disturbing case, according to the police reports.
On top of this, it was discovered that Fratangelo Jr. had been sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. This revelation added another layer of disturbance to an already shocking case.
According to the law enforcement, the method he applied to collect this massive stash was built around online malfeasance. Fratangelo Jr. was found to break into the social media accounts of local children, stealing images and then pressurizing the kids into supplying more obscene photos.
Fratangelo Jr.’s control over his victims was attested by an incident involving a brave girl who denied his request for additional explicit images. When faced with Fratangelo Jr.’s spiteful response of sharing her intimate pictures with her acquaintances, she alerted authorities, as revealed by the Manlius police.
Focused on Pine Grove Middle School from the East Syracuse Minoa School District, Fratangelo Jr. operated with a targeted approach. His prey were primarily the school’s attending children, a strategy highlighted by the police.
During his sentencing, the court session on Tuesday included presentations from the prosecution side, reading out a powerful letter penned by one of Fratangelo Jr.’s victims – the 14-year-old girl he had admitted to assaulting.
Not only the young victim but also her mother took the stand, eloquently outlining their shared disdain towards Fratangelo Jr. for the manipulation he had subjected the girl to and for taking away her right to childhood innocence.