A Gloucester man was convicted last week in federal court on charges of coercion and enticement of a child and receipt of child sexual abuse material, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia.Anthony George Ruggiero, 42, and his family hosted a foreign exchange student who arrived at their Gloucester home in 2021. After returning to her home country in 2022, the student disclosed to medical professionals that she had been sexually abused and exploited by Ruggiero in 2021 and 2022, according to court records and evidence presented at the trial, which was held in Newport News.
Ruggiero also engaged in sexually explicit messages with the student through social media accounts that indicated that Ruggiero was sexually abusing the student while she was 15 and 16 years old, the release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
The sexually graphic conversations continued after she returned to her home country, according to the release. Ruggiero ...