Sextortionist sentenced to 33 years for targeting 145 children

A Canadian man, Ramanan Pathmanathan, pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of minors and child pornography production after an eight-year sextortion scheme in which he posed as a teenage boy on Instagram and Facebook Messenger, recorded at least 145 child victims (some as young as six), and threatened to share recordings to force sexual acts; he was sentenced to 33 years in the U.S., must register as a sex offender, and was already serving a 12-year sentence in Canada for similar offenses.