STATE POLICE ARREST EAST PROVIDENCE MAN FOR INDECENT SOLICITATION OF A CHILD AND POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
On Sunday, February 9, 2014 at 12:30 pm Members of the Rhode Island State Police Detective Division arrested Andrew Silvestri, age 19, of 21 Harris Street, East Providence Rhode Island for the alleged crimes of Indecent Solicitation of a Child and Possession of Child Pornography.
On Saturday, February 8, 2014 members of the Rhode Island Airport Police advised that they had a thirteen (13) year old female in protective custody that had just arrived at T. F. Green Airport on a flight from South Carolina. The Airport Police were alerted to the juvenile by concerned passengers on the flight that learned she was traveling alone and was going to visit a male subject she met on the internet. During the initial investigation the Airport Police learned that the male subject was in fact nineteen (19) year old Andrew Silvestri, and at this point members of the Rhode Island State Police Detective Bureau responded to assist.
Detectives learned that the juvenile met Mr. Silvestri on the internet and the juvenile was led to believe that Mr. Silvestri was seventeen (17) years old. The investigation also revealed that Mr. Silvestri had allegedly sent inappropriate pictures to the juvenile on several occasions. The juvenile’s mother was aware of the relationship and gave permission for the juvenile to fly to Rhode Island.
Detectives examined the juvenile’s cell phone and observed numerous text messages and pictures between Mr. Silvestri and the juvenile, some of which were inappropriate. The relationship between Mr. Silvestri and the juvenile continued through Facebook, Skype, text messages, and telephone conversations during the month of December 2013, and January 2014. The juvenile is currently in the custody of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families.
On Sunday, February 9, 2014 members of the State Police Detective Bureau, Uniformed Division, Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and East Providence Police executed a court authorized search warrant at Andrew Silvestri’s residence at 21 Harris Street, East Providence. As the result of this search, Silvestri’s cellular telephone was seized and examined by a Forensic Analyst from the ICAC Task Force, who identified alleged pornographic pictures of the juvenile.
Mr. Silvestri was taken into custody, processed at State Police Headquarters, arraigned before Justice of the Peace Raspallo, and released on $10,000 personal recognizance with the special bail conditions of no contact with minors and no internet use.
The Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force actively engages in investigative efforts to identify subjects involved in child exploitation-related activities. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force Program is administered by the Rhode Island State Police and supports a national network of multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task forces engaged in investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to Internet crimes against children and technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Coventry Police Department, Warwick Police Department, Pawtucket Police Department, Woonsocket Police Department, North Kingstown Police Department, Jamestown Police Department, Portsmouth Police Department, Bristol Police Department; and special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and United States Postal Inspection Services (USPS).