Joseph Garofalo, ex-Valley Stream lacrosse coach, pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of children

A former assistant high school lacrosse coach, charged last year after investigators said he blackmailed dozens of children into sending him sexually explicit images, has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children, an admission a prosecutor said in court could lead to a sentence of roughly 19 to 24 years in prison.

Joseph Robert Garofalo, 21, who coached at Valley Stream Central High School and lived in Valley Stream, appeared Thursday before Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury in federal court in Central Islip to enter his plea, which will require him to register as a sex offender. Had he gone to trial, he would have faced up to 30 years in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 2.

"I induced a minor to take part in acts ... for the purpose of recording these acts," Garofalo told the court. "I am extremely sorry for my actions."

Earlier, Garofalo, shackled at his ankles and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, pulled up his undershirt to cover his face as he sobbed. His father sat a few feet away but left the courtroom before his son admitted guilt.

"Joseph Garofalo, an assistant high school coach, exploited more than 30 minors by blackmailing them into sending multiple sexually explicit photos and videos through social media threads," said James C. Barnacle Jr., FBI assistant director in charge. "Garofalo, entrusted with the care and development of young teenagers, violated this trust when he victimized these children to fulfill his perverted wants."

Garofalo was arrested in April after an FBI investigation found probable cause that he had used a Snapchat social media account to "sextort" a 13-year-old boy, threatening to share online naked images that showed the boy’s face unless he provided more naked pictures of himself or explicit pictures of his friends, according to a criminal complaint by an FBI agent with the Long Island Child Exploitation Task Force.

According to the complaint, Garofalo admitted to law enforcement officers in a recorded interview that he solicited child sex abuse material from children, kept the material on his devices and recognized images associated with the Snapchat account to which he’d subscribed with an email address in his own name.

In an order in May denying Garofalo’s request for bail, federal Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks wrote that investigators had identified at least 30 of Garofalo’s victims, most of them Long Island boys.

"Defendant has previously admitted to FBI agents upon arrest that he has an ‘addiction’ to the type of troubling behavior at issue here and, as such, has been unable to stop," Wicks wrote. "He has engaged in this behavior since he was fifteen years old and, despite getting older, his victims remain in the same age range — between twelve and sixteen years old."

While Garofalo’s parents, grandparents and aunt had pledged their homes as collateral for bail and Garofalo’s lawyer had proposed bail conditions including no internet and no contact with the children, Wicks said those pledges were outweighed by the "danger [Garofalo's] release would pose to the community."

In court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Toporovsky told Choudhury that Garofalo had "immediately accepted responsibility. He was open and honest with the government from Day 1."

Garofalo's attorney, Anthony La Pinta, of Hauppauge, said in a text: "There are extensive and compelling facts that will be significant mitigation when Joseph is sentenced in the near future. Joseph will always have the love and support of his family who will stand by him every single day moving forward."

He added, "Today was a difficult day. Joseph is entirely apologetic and regretful...for his behavior."

Valley Stream Central High School district administrators, through a representative, declined to comment beyond a public letter Superintendent Wayne Loper sent to the school community after Garofalo’s arrest last year. That letter, which did not refer to Garofalo by name, said FBI investigators told administrators that none of the allegations against the "former coach" involved district students. Garofalo had undergone state and federal background checks before his hiring and "cleared all vetting procedures," Loper wrote.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.