Ex-trooper sentenced for coercing woman on dating site

A former New York State trooper will serve three years of probation after authorities said she threatened to go public with naked photos of a woman she met online while pretending to be a man.

Nassau Supervising Judge Teresa Corrigan sentenced Jennifer Daignault on Monday after her November plea to a misdemeanor coercion charge. Online court records show a felony coercion charge was dropped.

Daignault, 34, of upstate Rome, also resigned from her trooper job in November, according to a state police spokesman. The agency had said following Daignault's indictment that the law enforcement officer, who worked upstate as part of Troop D, was suspended with pay.

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office alleged at the time of Daignault's 2019 indictment that the trooper met the victim, then a 33-year-old Nassau resident, on the dating site Plenty of Fish in 2018 and began a text message-only relationship. The victim, who believed Daignault was a man, sent her numerous naked photographs of herself, according to prosecutors.

Daignault then allegedly used those photos to coerce the victim into going to Queens and Manhattan and attempting to buy a fake driver's license bearing the name of a 33-year-old man with an address in upstate Manlius. Daignault threatened to put the woman's naked photos online if she didn't comply, prosecutors also said in 2019.

A district attorney's office spokeswoman declined to comment on the case Monday. But prosecutors said in the past that the case highlighted the need to be careful when using online dating platforms and cautioned users to limit personal information they share before meeting in person or speaking on the phone.

The judge signed an order of protection Monday that prohibits Daignault from any contact with the victim for five years and told the defendant to surrender any firearms she may have to Nassau police.

Daignault declined to speak during her sentencing and hid her face upon exiting the courtroom. She and her attorney, John Leonard of upstate Rome, ignored a request for comment.

"I believe that everybody involved in this is ready to move on," the defense lawyer had said during the sentencing.

Daignault also previously faced separate charges in Oneida County of coercion, stalking and aggravated harassment, before pleading not guilty in 2018. Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said Monday that the case had been dismissed and the records sealed.