BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State Police say a man from Buffalo has been arrested on rape charges and say there are possibly other victims.
Authorities say Christopher B. Lapress, 38 was arrested on August 3 following a two year investigation that began when the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) out of New York State Police Batavia received a case from the Virginia State Police where they had engaged in undercover online operations and caught Lapress disseminating child pornography.
As this case continued, seven additional cyber tips were received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children connecting Lapress with an address in South Buffalo.
Lapress was found at the residence and admitted to disseminating and possessing child pornography.
The BCI was then contacted by Erie County Child Protective Services, who had an active investigation on Lapress.
It was revealed that Lapress allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a minor in 2010. The victim, who is now an adult, acknowledged that they had engaged in sexual activity when the victim was 13-years-old and Lapress was 28 during that time period.
Several search warrants were issued through the investigation of Lapress’ social media accounts where Lapress was found to have requested nude photographs of a separate 16-year-old victim in 2018. He was also found to have sent an image of child pornography to an acquaintance through a dating app.
Authorities also say Lapress utilized a persona and catfished the victim to gauge interest in the image. (Catfishing is the act of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona.)
Lapress has been charged with second degree rape, three counts of promoting a sexual performance of a child, and endangering the welfare of a child.
He was arraigned and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center without bail and scheduled to appear for a felony hearing on September 8, 2020.
If anyone has information on Christopher B. Lapress, you are asked to contact the New York State Police at 585-344-6200.