Editor’s note: This story contains references to sexual violence.
A former science director at the Office of Naval Research has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison following his conviction for child sexual exploitation.
Daniel Marc Lofaro, 42, of Fairfax, Virginia, previously worked as a research scientist at the naval research laboratory and as an assistant professor at George Mason University, according to a prosecutor’s release.
The office conducts research for science and technology programs for the Navy and Marine Corps.
According to his personal website, Lofaro worked primarily in robotics, heading Lofaro Labs Robotics, which worked in conjunction with an international laboratory group — known as the DASL Group — and George Mason University beginning in 2014.
Lofaro pleaded guilty in May to charges of coercing and enticing at least two minor children. A federal judge sentenced him on Wednesday.
As early as 2019, Lofaro communicated with a 14-year-old victim through an online dating application. The two then talked using messaging and social media apps, video calls and voice calls.
Lofaro asked the 14-year-old to create and send him sexually explicit photos and videos, which the victim did.
In 2021, Lofaro contacted another minor victim, then age 12, through a social media app. Lofaro, who was 40 at the time, told the victim he was 22 years old.
Lofaro “told the victim in graphic detail how he would have sex with the victim,” even when the child didn’t respond. Lofaro continued to request nude images of the victim, asking the victim to join him in video chats.
A grand jury indicted Lofaro in October 2023 on multiple charges related to child pornography, according to court documents.
Investigators discovered more than 600 items of child sexual abuse material collected over nearly a decade on devices owned by Lofaro. Some images depicted “the sexual abuse of children, including the rape of a toddler and prepubescent children,” according to court documents.
From at least August 2021 to February 2022, he distributed and received such files through social media groups in which he discussed sexual abuse of children with other users.
On Feb. 5, 2022, Lofaro chatted with another site user about how he had sexually abused a minor relative while the child slept and that he was “looking for someone who has a daughter they are willing to share.”
Lofaro could have faced a life sentence for the exploitation charges if he had been convicted at a trial, according to court documents.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
