A Butler County man, who pled guilty to numerous felony offenses for creating an elaborate “Facebook” false identity scam, which targeted young girls for sex, was sentenced today to 14 to 28 years in state prison. Additionally, he will be required to serve 16 years of state supervised parole/probation and be required to register as a lifetime non-sexual violent predator with Megan’s Law.
Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane said that William Ainsworth was charged in February 2012 for using the popular social networking site, Facebook, to operate an elaborate and disturbing false identity scheme that was used to solicit young girls for explicit photos or meetings for sex.
Ainsworth was accused of fabricating the Facebook personas of two young men, “Bill Cano” and “Anthony ‘Rip’ Navari,” who were both supposedly living in Florida as surfers after dropping out of high school and running away from their families. Ainsworth used these online identities to initiate online friendships with young people from throughout the greater Pittsburgh area, nearly all of them female.
The original press release, which outlines the specific details of Ainsworth’s scheme, is available by visiting http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=6431.
Kane said that Ainsworth was sentenced by Butler County Court of Common Pleas Judge Tim McCune.