What to Know
- Linda Paolini, 45, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after she manipulated a teen boy into sending her explicit videos and attempting suicide while pretending to be a teenage girl.
- Paolini used social media to send sexually explicit messages to a 16-year-old Florida boy.
- During one online chat, Paolini faked a suicide attempt to get the boy to attempt suicide himself in solidarity with her.
A Philadelphia woman manipulated a teen boy into sending her explicit videos and attempting suicide while pretending to be a teenage girl.
Linda Paolini, 45, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for manufacturing child pornography and online enticement of a minor.
Paolini used Instagram to send sexually explicit messages to a 16-year-old Florida boy. Paolini pretended to be a 16-year-old girl and coerced the boy into sending her videos of him masturbating.
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In all, Paolini and the boy exchanged over 50,000 messages over the course of a few months.
During one online chat, Paolini faked a suicide attempt to get the boy to attempt suicide himself in solidarity with her. Paolini also admitted to sending similar messages to at least two other underage boys.
“She maliciously manipulated a child into making and sending her pornography of himself,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams wrote. “But that was not enough for this defendant. She then manipulated the vulnerable child into attempting suicide.”
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In addition to 35 years in prison, Paolini was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $15,000 in fines.
