Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Las Vegas man who possessed, produced child porn is convicted

Browsing a memory card that belonged to her ex-boyfriend in 2015, a Las Vegas woman discovered images of child pornography that included toddlers being sexually abused and her partner engaged in sex acts with teenagers, according to Metro Police.

She called police, kicking off an investigation that this week led to the conviction of Lonny Joseph DiTirro Jr., 36, on four counts of sexual exploitation of children by producing child porn and one child porn possession charge, according to the office of the U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada.

A jury found him guilty after a three-day trial in a federal court in Las Vegas. In a February sentencing, he faces up to 140 years in prison, officials said.

During the trial, according to a Thursday news release, multiple victims — who were under 16 when they were victimized — testified that they’d met DiTirro on a dating app, MeetMe, in which he led them to believe he was a teen himself or in his 20s, officials said.

On occasions, he even falsified his birth certificate “in an effort to coerce, entice and induce the victims into various sexual activities,” officials said.

And he’d record himself in sexual acts with the teens, while also capturing explicit images of them from Skype sessions, official said.

But those weren’t the only images investigators found on the card.

According to court documents, they also found files that depicted infants and toddlers being sexually abused by men.

In total, there were 254 images and 42 videos found in the card. DiTirro also had dozens of folders that not only displayed explicit files, but also the names and ages of some of the victims, officials said.

On Sept. 9, 2015, DiTirro’s ex-girlfriend was in her bed when a memory card stuck to her leg, according to court documents. She browsed the files and reported him to authorities the next day.

The woman remembered, in a later interview with detectives, that DiTirro had been looking and asking for the storage device.

Metro and the FBI are still investigating the case and said there may be other potential victims. Anyone with information can contact authorities. Tips can be placed online at cybertipline.org.