On Tuesday, FBI agents, with the assistance of North Port Police Department, Rhode Island State Police, and the Warwick Police Department, arrested Nicholas Sannicandro of Smithfield, RI on a federal criminal complaint. Charging the 31-year-old with transferring of obscene material to a minor and commission of a specified sexual exploitation offense by a person required to register as sex offender.
Sannicandro began talking to two local minor boys about fishing through Instagram. He later sent the boys fishing lures through the mail. A suspicious parent contacted us and our undercover detective began communicating, assuming the identity of one of the young boys. The registered sex offender talked about taking a fishing trip together and shared sexually explicit material.
According to court records, Nicholas Sannicandro was convicted in 2011 in Massachusetts for possession of child pornography, and he was required to register as a sex offender. Subsequently, he was convicted twice in 2018 in Massachusetts for disseminating matter harmful to a minor.
Please be vigilant with your children. If it were not for this proactive parent and policing, who knows where this might have ended.