A man from Staten Island faces charges related to child sexual exploitation after inadvertently giving a mobile phone to a friend’s girlfriend, unaware that it contained incriminating videos and photos involving a 4-year-old girl, federal authorities report. Read more in the official document.
Jon Consiglio, aged 39, was denied bail following his arraignment on Wednesday in Brooklyn Federal Court, ensuring he remains in custody.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Dennehy highlighted the severity of the situation in court, stating, “The victim in this case, your honor, is a 4-year-old girl. Her mother is aware of it as of last night.”
The sequence of events began when Consiglio handed over a phone on November 25 of the previous year. The recipient, who no longer needed the device, passed it to her sister this past Sunday, as outlined in a criminal complaint.
Upon receiving the phone, the sister discovered two videos and a photo depicting a young girl being coerced into sexual acts with an adult male. The complaint details that one video is over three minutes long, while the other exceeds four minutes, both containing numerous distressing acts.
Alerted by the disturbing content, she notified authorities. On Monday, the FBI conducted interviews with Consiglio’s friend, the friend’s girlfriend, and her sister to gather further insights into the case.
Both Consiglio’s friend and the friend’s girlfriend recognized the young victim, and said the male voice in the video resembled Consiglio’s voice.
When the feds interviewed another woman with ties to Consiglio, she also recognized the girl and Consiglio’s voice, and gave the feds access to a video taken inside Consiglio’s home in Staten Island’s Woodrow neighborhood, according to the complaint.
The setting of the child sex videos matched Consiglio’s bedroom, according to the feds. The tattoos on the man’s hands in the sex videos also matched photos of Consiglio’s hands on social media, the complaint alleges.
Consiglio’s lawyer, Samuel Jacobson of the Federal Defenders, did not make a bail application at Wednesday’s hearing. Jacobson declined comment Wednesday night.
If convicted of enticing or coercing a minor into producing child sexual exploitation material, Consiglio could face a mandatory minimum 15 years behind bars and a maximum of 30 years.
