Former Washington & Jefferson intern basketball coach sentenced to 20 years for sextortion

WASHINGTON, Pa. — Jacob Kolonis, 29, a former intern basketball coach at Washington & Jefferson College, was sentenced to 20 years in prison at his federal sentencing Thursday.

Kolonis was charged with sextortion, production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of minors and transferring obscene material.

Prosecutors described his predatory behavior on Snapchat, where he targeted young girls between 13 and 15 years old.

Prosecutors say Kolonis had a “deep-seated sexual interest in exploiting” and that investigators found pre-written threats in his Apple phone that he would send to underage girls as a way to force them to send him videos.

Kolonis admitted to forcing the girls to commit sexual acts, the videos he saved showed them crying and begging him to let them stop. The judge saying Kolonis could be heard telling them to use their tears to get through it.

Kolonis’s defense attorney said his client did not have a criminal history and sought treatment for his behavior before he was charged, after his house was raided by federal investigators.

In a statement read aloud in court, Kolonis said, in part, “I wanted to say this in front of my victims and their families, but they aren’t here. I know some will not want to hear what I say and it won’t change the past.

“I imagine if someone hurt my daughter the way I hurt my victims. Imaging isn’t the same as reality. I can’t go back in time and change the suffering I caused. I’m sorry. I understand that I’ve created victims and forced traumas that have caused families emotional scarring and altered outlooks on who to trust. In no way did they deserve what each of them had to endure. I know I can’t go back and change it, I wish I could but I can’t. I hope each of my victims and their families who I’ve hurt horrible are at peace and can heal. I’m sorry.”

None of the teenage girls or their family members attended Thursday’s sentencing. Prosecutors told the court that many of them just want to put it in the past and heal.

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