Overview
- The U.S. District Court sentenced Ramanan Pathmanathan to 33 years in federal prison on May 27, 2026, plus 10 years of supervised release and mandatory sex-offender registration.
- Pathmanathan pleaded guilty in January 2026 to one count of production of child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.
- Canadian authorities arrested Pathmanathan in March 2021 and he was previously sentenced in Canada to 12 years in 2022; the U.S. term will be served consecutively after the Canadian sentence.
- Prosecutors say he posed as a New Jersey teenage boy called 'Brett' on Instagram and Facebook Messenger, coaxed victims into video chats, secretly recorded their abuse and threatened to share images to force compliance.
- Investigators identified more than 145 child victims across the United States, including at least four in Texas, and the FBI’s Houston office called the probe one of its largest sextortion cases to date.