New Jersey Man Arrested in Attempt to Livestream a Sexual Assault Online

A New Jersey man who runs a live video website was involved in the prostitution of underage girls by having them broadcast sexual acts online to paying customers, and in one case even tried to lure customers into sexually assaulting a woman and broadcasting the assault live, authorities said.

Robert Ianuale, 32, of Hazlett, N.J., was arrested at his home on Monday, Monmouth County prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a statement. Ianuale, who prosecutors said owns the live broadcasting service SwerveCast, allegedly used his online moniker “Fist Pump” to lure viewers to sexually assaulting a New York City woman outside her workplace.“Ianuale offered $100 to anyone who would sexually assault the woman and broadcast the event live” the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Ianuale was in a county jail and has not yet commented. Prosecutors said the underage girls who broadcast online sex acts included two 14-year-olds.

“Profiting off of the sexual abuse of juveniles is intolerable,” Gramiccioni said. “We cannot allow innocent children to fall prey to online abusers and predators seeking to line their pockets through the sexual exploitation of their victims.”