GLOUCESTER CO., Va. — A Gloucester man was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for sexually abusing a foreign exchange student hosted by his family, the Department of Justice says.
Anthony George Ruggiero, 42, was convicted in November on charges of coercion and enticement of a child and receipt of child sexual abuse material.
In 2021, Ruggiero and his family hosted a foreign exchange student. Ruggiero sent sexually explicit messages, asked for and offered explicit photos to the student when she was 15 and 16 years old. The messages continued after she returned home in 2022, according to the Department of Justice. The student disclosed to medical professionals in her home country that she had been sexually abused and exploited by Ruggiero in 2021 and through 2022.
A subsequent investigation also found Ruggiero guilty of receiving five child sexual abuse material videos of a victim in Texas.
The FBI’s Norfolk Field Office investigated this case.
