Former Navy Research Scientist gets 25 Years for Child Exploitation
A research scientist in the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and former Assistant Professor at George Mason University was sentenced to 25 years in prison for receiving, possessing, and distributing child sexual abuse material and coercion and enticement of minors.
In November 2021, Daniel Marc Lofaro, 40, engaged with a victim who was then 12 years old, on a social media app, telling the victim he was 22 years old. Lofaro told the victim in graphic detail how he would have sex with the victim and continued to entice and exploit the child even when the victim hardly responded. Lofaro requested nude images of the victim and asked the victim to join him in video chats.
In 2019, Lofaro engaged with a 14-year-old victim, through an online dating app. He chatted with the victim on social media and messaging apps and had voice and video calls with the victim. On many occasions, Lofaro asked the victim to send him sexually explicit pictures and videos. At Lofaro’s request, in February 2022, the victim created a sexually explicit video and sent it to Lofaro. The victim told law enforcement that Lofaro asked for the victim’s address so he could visit the victim, and that the victim stopped talking to him because he was asking the victim to send him photographs every day, even when the child was at school. Lofaro last reached out to the victim on May 18, 2022, the morning law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence.
Lofaro collected child pornography for a decade, collecting nearly 600 images and videos on two laptop computers. They included images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including the rape of a toddler and children.
Lofaro distributed and received numerous CSAM files through social media. Lofaro was a member of multiple social media groups dedicated to discussing sexual abuse of children and exchanging CSAM. Lofaro frequently discussed with other users his sexual interest in children and the sexual abuse of children in real life. In February of 2022, Lofaro chatted with another individual about his sexual abuse of a minor relative while the child slept, and that he was “looking for someone who has a daughter that they are willing to share.”
If anyone has any information pertaining to a predator within your community, contact the authorities or a nonprofit organization that specializes in catching predators.
Contact us: exposethepredators.com
