A 40-year-old Canadian man has been sentenced to 33 years in prison after confessing to targeting over 145 children across the United States during an eight-year sextortion scheme, with some victims as young as six.
Ramanan Pathmanathan, who pleaded guilty to multiple charges—including forcing a minor and producing child pornography—has received a lengthy prison sentence for crimes that lasted nearly a decade and impacted many young lives.
Along with his 33-year sentence, Pathmanathan is required to register as a sex offender and will remain under supervised release for ten years following his prison term. This sentence adds to his existing 12-year term in Canada, where he also pleaded guilty to similar offenses in 2022.
Sextortion involves the coercion of victims to provide explicit material, typically under threat of exposing that material online. Often, perpetrators hack personal accounts to obtain compromising content. In some instances, they fabricate claims about having incriminating content to extort money from the victims.
However, court filings indicated that Pathmanathan’s activities were based on actual recordings. He created multiple profiles on Instagram and Facebook Messenger, using these to communicate with and document his victims during sexual acts.
Starting in March 2014 and up until his arrest on March 10, 2021, he impersonated a teenage boy from New Jersey to contact at least 145 children. This deceitful approach helped him connect with kids who might otherwise be wary of unknown adults online.
The Justice Department recently outlined alarming details of Pathmanathan’s actions. According to reports, he pressured minors to perform sexually explicit acts in video chats, including asking them to expose their genitals and engage in sexual acts with pets, siblings, and others.
In nearly all video sessions, Pathmanathan reportedly sent the children images of adults engaged in sexual activities to illustrate his requests. He meticulously recorded these exchanges, saving the explicit material on his computer. Victims varied widely in age, with some as young as six.
When victims attempted to refuse or block his advances, he resorted to threats, warning them he would share the explicit images with family and friends. This tactic created a cycle of fear and manipulation, leaving many victims feeling trapped.
Law enforcement advises parents to maintain open dialogues with their children about online safety and to keep an eye on their Internet activities. Experts emphasize that most sextortion victims should recognize that the crime is not their fault and that reporting such incidents is crucial to safeguarding themselves and preventing future victims.
Previous reports have highlighted the tragic case of a teenage boy who took his own life following a sextortion scheme, with his parents expressing outrage at the perpetrators.
Just hours later, Bryce was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His grieving father, Adam Tate, views it as a murder instigated by a cruel sextortion scheme targeting boys. “People might call it suicide, but to me, it’s absolutely murder,” Adam shared. “I consider them to be godless demons, worse than mere cowards—just horrible human beings.”
In sextortion schemes, scammers often carefully analyze social media to gather intel on their targets, posing as friendly figures to build trust. They may use stolen or AI-generated images to manipulate victims into sharing intimate photos, subsequently threatening to expose them unless paid. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children noted over 33,000 reported cases of sextortion in 2024, with similar numbers in the first half of this year.
In the case of Bryce, the scammer impersonated a local 17-year-old girl who was familiar with him, determining details about his gym and friends. After establishing trust, the scammer solicited illicit photos and demanded $500 under threat of sharing those photos with his family and friends.
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