#FBI looking for victims of child pornography ring allegedly run by NY man

Federal investigators are asking for help identifying dozens of victims of a child pornography ring allegedly run by a Westchester County man.

The FBI arrested Jose Zafra, 19, of Port Chester last month and charged him with production of child sexual abuse material.

Zafra allegedly posed as a teenager on Snapchat to extort pornographic photos from children as young as a 9-year-old girl.

Known victims were from Florida, Georgia and Texas; agents believe there may be at least 25 victims in total, according to to a criminal complaint.

The feds say he used flattery, lies and aliases such as “Definitely jose,” “Bigd–kdaddy,” “Jose.zafra” and “Opens–t” to coerce the children into creating and sending him videos and images.

Meanwhile, the FBI continues to investigate a similar case involving an NYPD officer.

Carmine Simpson, 26, was arrested last week for allegedly soliciting X-rated photos and videos from dozens of underage girls.

The East New York cop posed as a teenager on Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Discord and FaceTime to have sexually graphic conversations with 46 children between the ages of 13 and 17, prosecutors said.

Simpson allegedly used a filter to make himself look younger and utilized pseudonyms such as “BINGIEBONGIE,” “thelifeofchrist88,” “LifeOfChrist69” and “DACRYPHILIC” when communicating with his victims, according to a criminal complaint.

He is accused of convincing victims to send him hundreds of explicit pictures and sometimes violent videos of themselves.

“Conversations were usually violent with references to guns and knives and encouraging minors to hurt themselves,” Assistant US Attorney Megan Farrell said at his initial appearance in Central Islip federal court.

“He had victims do things such as choke themselves, hit themselves and send him pictures and videos demonstrating those activities.” 

Simpson, who lives with his parents, was arrested at his home in Holbrook, Long Island. He is being held without bail and is suspended without pay, according to the NYPD.

Anonymous tips about Simpson led to his arrest, the FBI said.