Gloucester man sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing a foreign exchange student and receiving child sexual abuse material

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A Gloucester man was sentenced today to life in prison following his conviction for coercion and enticement of a child and receipt of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Anthony George Ruggiero, 42, and his family hosted a foreign exchange student who arrived at their home in Gloucester in 2021. After returning to her home country in 2022, the student disclosed to medical professionals that she had been sexually abused and exploited by Ruggiero in 2021 through 2022.

Ruggiero also engaged in sexually explicit messages with the student through social media accounts that indicated that Ruggiero was sexually abusing the student while she was 15 and 16 years old. The sexually graphic conversations continued after she returned to her home country. Ruggiero asked her for sexually explicit photos, offered her sexually explicit photos, and engaged in sexually explicit conversations both reminiscent of past sexual encounters and fantasies of future encounters.

Ruggiero was also found guilty of receiving five videos of CSAM of an identified victim in Texas.

The FBI's Norfolk Field Office investigated this case

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Devon E.A. Heath and Peter G. Osyf prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 4:24-cr-39.