Westchester Sex Offender Sentenced to 25 Years for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Dean Picariello, age 33, of Valhalla, New York, was sentenced today to 300 months (25 years) in prison for attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and committing a felony offense involving a minor while required to register as a sex offender. 

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Alfred A. Watson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

As part of his earlier guilty plea, Picariello admitted that on November 4, 2020, he initiated a conversation with someone he believed to be a 12-year-old girl in a teen chat group on a popular social media messaging application. Picariello engaged in sexually explicit conversation with the person, graphically describing the sex acts he would perform on the 12-year-old child when they met in person.  In late November, Picariello began exchanging sexually explicit text messages with a second person posing as the 12-year-old girl’s 11-year-old cousin.  On December 3, 2020, Picariello arranged to travel from Valhalla to Menands, to meet and have sex with the pre-teen cousins. When Picariello arrived at the prearranged meeting location in Menands, he was encountered by law enforcement officers and arrested.

Picariello has two prior New York State convictions for rape in the third degree, each involving a victim less than 17 years old.

United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby also imposed a life term of post-release supervision and ordered Picariello to forfeit the Samsung cellular phone he used to commit his crimes.  Picariello will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI Albany’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Allen J. Vickey and Rachel Williams prosecuted the case as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.