A senior Sony executive is out of a job after being exposed in an amateur pedophilia sting operation by People v. Preds, which posted a video on YouTube.
George Cacioppo, who served as a senior vice president on the team behind PlayStation, allegedly chatted with a decoy who he believed was a 15-year-old boy on Grindr. Cacioppo, 64, tried to meet with the boy at 4:30 a.m.
Instead, a cameraman shows up at Cacioppo’s house, and he comes outside wearing a PS5 t-shirt. The cameraman, who refers to him as “Jeff,” asks him who he’s meeting up with. Cacioppo turns around and walks back into the house.
“We can have a conversation, or I can call the cops,” the cameraman says, which Cacioppo ignores. The cameraman begins yelling throughout the neighborhood that Cacioppo intended to meet up with a young boy and threatens to call the police.
CNET reviewed the chat between the former exec and the decoy, and Cacioppo believed he was speaking to a 15-year-old boy. He told the decoy his name was “Jeff,” and the two “exchanged pictures and discussed sex acts.” Cacioppo gave his address, and the decoy said he would Uber over.
People v. Preds said that it would hand over the information to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. The New York Post confirmed with a San Diego Police Department spokesman that “there is an active investigation being led by the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC).”
“We are aware of the situation, and the employee in question has been terminated from employment,” Sony told CNET in an emailed statement on Sunday.
