PROVIDENCE – A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered a Massachusetts man to be held without bail after prosecutors say an investigation uncovered he spoke to “dozens” of minors he was “grooming for sexual activity,” court records show.
In Providence on Wednesday, US District Court Judge Patricia A. Sullivan ordered 51-year-old Robert Consorti, of Wilmington, Mass., detained as Consorti was arraigned on charges from a superseding indictment returned by a grand jury last week, according to the court filings.
The indictment charged Consorti with two counts of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, interstate travel for the purpose of illicit sexual activity, transportation of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.
He pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office confirmed.
An attorney for Consorti declined to comment when contacted by the Globe on Thursday.
In a motion filed last week, prosecutors described Consorti as a “prolific child predator.”
Consorti was initially arrested in October 2024 when he arrived at a hotel in Warwick, R.I., where he allegedly expected to meet and have “sexual contact” with a 14-year-old girl, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
However, Consorti was unaware the supposed girl he made the arrangements with was actually a law enforcement officer posing as a teen, prosecutors said.
A grand jury returned an indictment against him in November, charging him with one count each of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, and interstate travel for the purpose of illicit sexual activity.
Court documents filed this month show, however, that authorities continued to investigate Consorti after his arrest.
During a search of his electronic devices, investigators found “a significant collection of child sexual abuse material, including prepubescent images and sadistic and masochistic sexual abuse of minors,” officials wrote in the motion filed on April 4.
“Equally disturbing are the defendant’s collection of ‘snuff films,’ pornographic videos that appear to depict actual homicides,” the motion states.
Investigators also received a lead from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating Consorti allegedly distributed the abuse material on social media, prosecutors wrote.
“Most dangerously, review of Consorti’s devices revealed he was in communication with dozens of minors grooming them for sexual activity,” the motion says, adding that the ages of the minors ranged from 13 to 16 years old.
In many instances, Consorti allegedly sent minors the material and requested they send similar material, according to prosecutors. Consorti also sent “sexually obscene images of himself,” officials wrote.
Additionally, investigators found conversations Consorti allegedly had with other adults with a “demonstrated sexual interest in children” and repeatedly told them he prefers girls between 8 and 12 years old, the motion states.
“The context of the text communications strongly suggests that Consorti has previously met with minors for sexual activity,” officials wrote.
Authorities have identified one instance where Consorti allegedly groomed a victim over the period of six months, beginning when the child was 12 years old, prosecutors wrote.
When the victim was 13 years old, Consorti traveled over state lines multiple times to meet with her, and provided her vapes and edible marijuana, according to the motion. The victim told investigators Consorti “convinced her to have sex in return for those items” and made arrangements for a hotel room, prosecutors wrote.
The girl showed up to the hotel, but the encounter did not happen, as Consorti had already been arrested days earlier, the motion states.
Prosecutors filed the motion on April 4, asking a judge to detain Consorti until his trial, as he was previously released on home detention and electronic monitoring following his arrest last year. Officials wrote his continued release represented a danger to the girl and to the community at large.
“There are also very likely more minor victims, as yet unidentified, whom defendant may know the identities of and to whom he presents an ongoing danger,” prosecutors wrote.
In a filing on Wednesday, Sullivan wrote that Consorti argued he has no prior criminal history, has been compliant with his release conditions over the past six months, and has continued to work and seek treatment.
Yet, Sullivan concluded “the current factual landscape is profoundly different than the circumstances at the initial detention hearing” and that there was “clear and convincing evidence” his release would “would pose a significant danger to other persons and the community.”
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