Ryan Cargill of East Patchogue, who posed as teen on Facebook, gets 14 years for raping 2 girls
Ryan Cargill, 28, of East Patchogue, was sentenced Friday, Dec. 12, 2014, to 14 years in prison and 20 years of post-release supervision for raping four underage girls he lured on Facebook while posing as a high school teen. Credit: Suffolk County Sheriff
A youthful-looking East Patchogue man was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison for posing as a teenager on Facebook, meeting preteen girls and raping them.
Ryan Cargill, 28, admitted to raping two girls when he pleaded guilty in October to three counts of first-degree rape, one count of second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Cargill was sentenced by Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn to prison and 20 years of post-release supervision. He had faced more than 30 years in prison if convicted of all charges in the 22-count indictment against him.
He will have to register as a sex offender when he gets out of prison.
"My daughter was 12 when you crossed my daughter's path," the mother of one victim said in court. "You took her virginity, a gift she will never be able to give to anyone else. You molested and violated our babies."
As a result of the rape, she said, she and parents of the other girls "have had to teach them that not everyone is a monster, not everyone is evil."
The mother said her Catholic faith teaches her to forgive, "but I don't think I will ever be able to forgive you for what you did to my baby."
Cargill said nothing in court. His attorney apologized on his behalf.
Prosecutors said Cargill created a Facebook profile in which he claimed to be a high school student. From June 2011 to February 2012, he sent friend requests to the girls to entice them to meet him. When they did, he would sexually assault them.
Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Kearon noted there was nothing consensual about these sexual encounters with a man who told investigators he was attracted to girls.
"The defendant admits he used coercion to engage in sexual acts with a 12-year-old girl," Kearon said.
Defense attorney Chad Seigel of Manhattan said both he and his client regret what he did.
"I doubt this provides any consolation to the victims and their families, but my heart does go out to them," Seigel said.
He said Cargill lacks the emotional maturity of his chronological age. That, combined with depression, isolation and alcohol and drug abuse, "inhibited his ability to control his impulses."
Seigel said he was hopeful for Cargill's future when he someday gets out of prison, noting that he has already dealt with his substance abuse issues and has sought psychiatric treatment for his other problems.
