A NYC flag football coach was sentenced Monday for paying children to send him nude photos and videos via Snapchat, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Benvontay Fogler, 29, was sentenced to six years in prison and 10 years of post-release supervision for soliciting nude and sexual photos and videos from children he met at schools and camps working as a flag football coach, teacher’s aide and camp counselor, authorities said.
Between Aug. 8, 2019, and Oct. 29, 2023, Fogler solicited the graphic content from at least seven kids he coached — all ages 12 to 16 — via the messaging app Snapchat. In return, the predator paid the minors hundreds of dollars through Cashapp or gave them gifts.
In one instance, he paid a child more than $1,600 for sexual images.
“Benvontay Fogler used his positions at schools and camps to abuse numerous children over the course of more than four years,” Bragg said. “I thank the many survivors who came forward, as well as our prosecutors and counselors who never stopped working to support them.”
The DA’s office did not release the names of Fogler’s employers to protect the victims’ identities.
The case against Fogler began with one report, but other survivors came forward with similar accounts, Bragg said. Fogler was indicted on Nov. 16, 2023, and then pleaded guilty on May 9, 2024, in New York State Supreme Court to multiple counts of use of and attempted use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony.
Fogler was ultimately convicted of use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony, a class C felony, three counts, as well as attempted use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony, a class D felony, four counts.
As part of his sentencing, Fogler will also have to register as a sex offender. It was not immediately clear who represented the defendant in the case.
Sex offenders in New York State
As of the end of 2020, more than 42,000 sex offenders were registered in New York State. Nearly 11,000 of those offenders were registered at Level 3, which the state deems the highest risk. A Level 3 designation means there is a high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety exists.
Assessments for people being sentenced to prison — as in the case of Fogler — are not done until they are about to be released from prison.
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