Crime & Safety

Westchester Deli Manager Convicted of Online Sex Chats with "Teen"

Authorities say the man connected with what he thought was a 15-year-old while scouring Craiglist.


Yonkers Deli Manager Hossam Elfeke was convicted today of having sexually explicit instant message chats with what he thought was a teen. It turns out that the 15-year-old girl he thought he was talking to was actually an investigator with the Westchester County DA's Office.

Authorities say Elfeke connected with what he thought was a 15-year-old while scouring Craigslist back in 2011. He then emailed and instant messaged the supposed teen and described specific sexual acts.

Four days later, Elfeke decided to meet up with what he thought would be a 15-year-old girl. But what he found at the meet up was law enforcement officers waiting for him.

“Every time a predator goes online or into a chat room, he should wonder if the child victim that he is trying to lure into an illegal sexual encounter is really a member of law enforcement," said Westchester DA Janet DiFiore. "In having members of law enforcement patrolling cyberspace, as in this case, they can intercede and trap a pedophile before their criminal behavior escalates into a physical sexual assault of a real child.”

Elfeke could now face four years in prison, for attempting to disseminate indecent material to minors, when he is sentenced on March 5.


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