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‘Sextortion’ suspect accused of driving California teen to suicide
3000 Teens sextorted leading to more than a dozen suicides this year
By Isabel Keane, NYPost
December 20, 2022 11:53am Updated
A California man has been busted for allegedly taking a 17-year-old boy’s money and threatening to post his sexually explicit photos and videos — a “sextortion” scheme that authorities said led to the teen’s suicide.
Jonathan Kassi, 25, was arrested Thursday in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Van Nuys before he was booked into Santa Clara County jail on charges of extortion and attempted disorderly conduct, San Jose police said.
Kassi allegedly pretended to be a teenage girl named “Emily Smith” in order to trick boys into sending sexually explicit photos and videos.
Police said he sexually exploited children on several social media platforms under fake accounts with the usernames “emillysmith” and “kassijonathan.”
Kassi was allegedly involved in the “sextortion” of Ryan Last, a 17-year-old from San Jose who died by suicide after Kassi allegedly posed as a teenage girl and convinced him to share a racy photo of himself online, according to NBC Bay Area.
Jonathan Kassi, 25, was arrested last Thursday in connection to the sextortion and eventual suicide of a 17-year-old San Jose resident.
San Jose Police Department
After Last shared the photo, Kassi threatened to send the compromising photo to his friends and family unless Last paid $5,000. Kassi allegedly collected the blackmail money from the boys and sent it to a co-conspirator in Ivory Coast in Africa, police said.
According to police, Last sent some money but it wasn’t enough. Kassi demanded he send more money, spurring Last to take his own life last spring.
Last was just days away from turning 18 and weeks away from graduating from Ann Sobrato High School.
Ryan Last was days away from turning 18 and weeks away from graduating high school when he died by suicide last spring.
San Jose Police Department
This week the FBI warned about a massive uptick in teenage boys being targeted online and extorted for money after being tricked into sending scammers sexually explicit pictures.
At least 3,000 children, mostly teenage boys, have been victims of the schemes that are connected to more than a dozen suicides this year, according to Justice Department officials.
Most victims are between 14 and 17, but kids as young as 10 have been targeted in similar attacks. The FBI said it was issuing the national public safety alert as children will likely be spending more time online with schools closed for winter break.
Kassi will make his first court appearance in Santa Clara County court on Monday to enter a plea.
It's not only victims who suicide
Theater director Jeff Church found dead following sex abuse allegations
By Yaron Steinbuch
December 27, 2022 11:26am Updated
Jeff Church was found dead on Christmas Eve following multiple accusations of sexual abuse against him.
The Coterie
A longtime children’s theater director in Kansas City was found dead on Christmas Eve — days after he resigned amid allegations of sexual abuse.
Jeff Church, 63, who had led the Coterie Theatre for over 30 years, was found dead at his home on Saturday afternoon, the Kansas City Star reported.
The cause of death has not been released.
On Thursday, KKFI 90.1 radio host Mark Manning accused Church on Facebook of assaulting him in 1991 when he was 27.
He came forward by sharing a since-deleted video by Deshawn Young, a Florida-based actor who previously lived in Kansas City, in which he described an assault.
“I am sharing this video testimonial from my friend Dashawn Young. Please be careful. This is very difficult to watch and hear,” Manning wrote.
“My emotional muscle memory was triggered in a way I did not fully expect. I lost it. I became so emotional that I wondered if I could even do my radio show,” he continued.
Mark Manning, a Kansas City radio host, said he was sexually abused by Church in 1991 at age 27.
Facebook/Mark Manning
Manning went on to recount how Church allegedly assaulted him at the director’s home during a party after the production of “Dinosaurs.”
“I found myself pushed back on the bed, his mouth was on my body parts, my clothing seemed to disappear, and very quickly the director had penetrated me,” he wrote.
“It felt like my body was being used. How did this happen?” Manning said, adding that he had heard of many similar accounts of sexual abuse at the hands of the theater honcho.
Manning told the Star that the sickening acts had been “going on for over 30 years.”
“Most of these people were young theater artists trying to find their way through their theatrical career and a person in a very great authority position of directing them and deciding who gets paid and who gets the job [was] interfering in people’s lives,” he told the paper.
He said that after he shared the lengthy post, three other people reached out to him to share their similar experiences.
On Friday, the Kansas City Pitch first published more shocking allegations against Church from more than a dozen people.
KC Comeaux, an actor who worked for Church in his early 20s, also spoke out on Facebook.
“I was sexually assaulted by Jeff Church. Many of you in Kansas City had no idea of this man’s behavior. Many of you had heard rumors. But I’m here to tell you that he is a predator,” he wrote.
“He has groomed, abused, and assaulted, numerous young men over the course of 30+ years. Myself included,” Comeaux wrote. “…this man, who has used his position of power as an Artistic Director of a renowned children’s theatre, for manipulation and sex exploitation.”
Young’s post prompted others to speak out about their experiences with the late director.
Instagram/@thatsit.thatsme
On Saturday afternoon, the theater announced that it had accepted Church’s resignation and planned to investigate the multiple allegations.
“We want you to know that we are taking these allegations extremely seriously and will move forward with the investigation immediately, despite the impending holidays,” it said in a statement.
Manning called the lurid matter a “tragedy for our community.”
“I don’t want to see a whole theater company be destroyed because of one person and the horrible things that they did over a long period of time to a lot of different people, both men and women,” he told the paper.
Ex-NJ landlord indicted for demanding sex favors from 30 tenants
By Isabel Keane
December 22, 2022 3:31pm Updated
A New Jersey landlord has been hit with more than three dozen sex charges for demanding sexual favors from 30 low-income tenants in exchange for housing help, prosecutors said.
Joseph Centanni, 75, of Mountainside was charged last week in a 42-count indictment that includes 23 counts of second-degree sexual assault and 19 counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday.
Centanni owned 18 low-income residential rental properties in the city of Elizabeth — each ranging from four to 100 units.
The creepy landlord allegedly bribed men and women ages 22 to 61 to engage in unwanted sexual favors between 2013 and 2020.
“The defendant allegedly solicited the sex acts from his victims as a quid pro quo, agreeing to offer them rent reductions, a delay in an eviction, or other forms of financial assistance in exchange,” the statement said.
Joseph Centanni
The creepy landlord allegedly bribed men and women ages 22 to 61 to engage in unwanted sexual favors.
Union County Prosecutor's Office
“He also purportedly threatened tenants who hesitated or refused his advances with eviction or other retaliatory measures.”
Centanni was arrested in June 2021 but remains free on court-ordered pretrial monitoring pending the outcome of his case.
A year ago, the Justice Department announced that Centanni agreed to pay a massive $4.5 million to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit that looked to protect tenants from harassment and discrimination.
NJ landlord - Centanni did not admit to any wrongdoing when he settled the lawsuit.
Centanni sold all of his properties as part of the settlement and has been permanently banned from owning or managing residential properties. He did not admit to any wrongdoing in settling the lawsuit.
The agreement was the largest monetary settlement the DOJ has ever obtained in a case alleging sexual harassment in housing and settled a federal lawsuit alleging Centanni sexually harassed his tenants over a 15-year period.
Centanni subjected residents and prospective tenants to “severe or pervasive sexual harassment,” according to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in 2020.
He allegedly demanded oral sex or touched the tenants inappropriately and without their consent in exchange for helping them apply for rental assistance to stay in their homes.
A year ago, the Justice Department announced that Centanni agreed to pay a massive $4.5 million to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit.
The agreement was the largest monetary settlement the DOJ has ever obtained in a case alleging
sexual harassment in housing
Centanni and his properties also benefited greatly from federal Section 8 housing vouchers, which netted him over $100,000 in Housing Choice Voucher payments each month.
The $4.5 million he has agreed to pay will be distributed to his victims through a compensation fund, according to the DOJ.
He has also settled at least seven lawsuits filed by previous tenants in state courts, according to NJ.com.
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