By Chandra Philip
A Toronto man has pleaded guilty to online sexual exploitation of more than 100 girls in the United States, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The man, 40-year-old, Ramanan Pathmanathan, admitted to creating a fake online persona and targeting the children through social media, according to justice officials.
Pathmanathan previously pleaded guilty to similar crimes in Canada in 2022 and was given a 12-year jail sentence.
He was arrested by U.S. law enforcement on Dec. 3, 2025 after the U.S. officials secured a “temporary surrender” of Pathmanathan from Canada, according to a Jan. 30 Justice Department news release. Following his arrest in the U.S., Pathmanathan remained incarcerated while awaiting trial.
Under Canada’s Extradition Act, someone in custody in Canada can be surrendered for trial in another country. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said the guilty plea was a “critical step towards justice” for the targeted victims and that anyone who targets children, including online, will be held accountable.
“For years, while hiding in another country behind a fabricated online persona, he used manipulation, threats, and fear to coerce unsuspecting juveniles into producing and engaging in sexually explicit acts, robbing them of their innocence,” Duva said.
Pathmanathan admitted that for seven years, up until the day of his arrest in Canada, he had sexually exploited over 100 minor females, the Justice Department release said.
He posed as an American teenage boy and connected with the victims over social media platforms.
“While video chatting with the minor victims, Pathmanathan persuaded and coerced the children to engage in sexually explicit acts and, without their knowledge or consent, Pathmanathan screen recorded the minors while engaged in such behavior — collecting the videos of his abuse,” the release said.
When the girls refused to engage further with him, Pathmanathan would threaten to show the videos to their families and friends.
The victims were between 11 and 17 years old and lived in various parts of the U.S.
Pathmanathan faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years in jail in addition to potential fines and supervised release, U.S. authorities said. He will also be required to pay each victim at least $3,000.
He is scheduled for sentencing on May 27.
U.S. officials said the investigation was conducted by the FBI Houston field office with the Toronto Police Service assisting.
The Justice Department said the case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative against child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in 2006.
