(Cleveland, Ohio) – U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced today that a federal grand jury sitting in Toledo has returned a one-count indictment charging Rosalina C. DRAGGA, 31, of Lorain with sexual exploitation of children. DRAGGA is accused of working with Charles NAKOFF Jr, 32, of Lorain, to produce images of child pornography.
On October 9, 2020, a superseding indictment was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio charging NAKOFF with transportation of child pornography, receipt and distribution of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of children.
According to court records, in April of 2020, law enforcement investigators began an investigation into NAKOFF after Dropbox, Inc. notified law enforcement with the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that approximately 215 alleged video files of child pornography were stored in an online account associated with NAKOFF. The investigation eventually established that NAKOFF, his wife and DRAGGA all lived at the same residence in Lorain at the time the images were transported.
On July 21, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Lorain residence and on NAKOFF himself. These warrants were executed without incident, and six items were seized, including three cell phones and three computers. An onsite forensic preview of NAKOFF’s cell phone resulted in the discovery of alleged child exploitation images and videos involving various underage victims. NAKOFF was arrested and taken into federal custody.
During an analysis of one of NAKOFF’s electronic devices, a message string of particular interest was found to have occurred between NAKOFF and his wife, relating to DRAGGA. This led investigators to a series of videos and images on one of NAKOFF’s seized cell phones involving Minor Victim #1 from Lorain. These videos and images depicted an adult male and unidentified female allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the minor.
Investigators and DRAGGA identified NAKOFF as the male in the files, states the Complaint filed against DRAGGA. In addition, investigators were able to determine that DRAGGA was the unidentified female by using images of DRAGGA publically available online to match with the series of images involving the minor, namely distinct visible tattoos on both sets of images.
According to the Complaint, DRAGGA informed investigators that she cooperated with NAKOFF in the production of these images. DRAGGA was arrested on October 14, 2020.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.
In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The investigation preceding both indictments was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol M. Skutnik.
Photo by: Department of Justice
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