A former New York City Police Department officer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted of multiple sex offenses involving minors. The sentence, delivered in a federal court in Brooklyn, was announced earlier on July 17, with United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto presiding over the case of Christopher Terranova. Terranova, who was an NYPD officer at the time of the offenses, was found guilty by a federal jury in November 2024, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. and FBI Assistant Director in Charge, Christopher G. Raia, publicly announced the outcome, emphasizing the gravity of Terranova's actions and the courage of the victims. "The significant sentence the court imposed is a just outcome for the defendant’s abuse of his position as a police officer to groom and manipulate young boys, gain their trust, then sexually abuse and exploit them," Nocella stated. Found to be guilty of sex offenses, Terranova used that same position to engage in sexually explicit conversations with the underage boys. He attempted to entice them into taking sexually explicit photographs of themselves and sharing them with him through popular social media applications, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
From December 2019 to May 2023, Terranova targeted victims he met through his job or online communities. This includes a 15-year-old boy he encountered at the 121st Precinct on Staten Island and a 12-year-old local victim, while Terranova was on duty and in uniform. The former officer also traveled to Texas at least 16 times, where he engaged in sexual acts with a minor and even purchased a house in the neighborhood of another 15-year-old victim. Moreover, the prosecution noted that Terranova engaged in hands-on sex acts with two of his victims.
Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel A. Bennek and Lauren A. Bowman of the Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section carried out the prosecution with the aid of Paralegal Specialist Chelsea Guzman. The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. The FBI and the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau both played a role in the investigation, which led to Terranova's arrest and subsequent sentencing. "May today’s sentencing reflect the FBI’s commitment to disrupting any sexual predator from further victimizing our city’s most vulnerable victims," Raia said in a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
