PlayStation VP fired after appearing in pedophile sting video

Sony Interactive Entertainment has fired George Cacioppo (a senior vice-president in the engineering division), after he was accused of appearing in a YouTube pedophilia video sting.

People vs. Preds YouTube channel streamed Friday’s encounter. This vigilante group conducts amateur sting operations that expose alleged predators. People vs. Protects claims that Cacioppo invited a boy aged 15 over to his house for sexual activity over Grindr, text messages and other media. Sony told CNET Sunday that Cacioppo had been “terminated from employment.”

According to Cacioppo’s LinkedIn profile, he worked for Sony as a network administrator. He’d been with the company for more than eight years before his termination. People vs. Preds’ video shows a cameraperson approaching a home in the dark, with Cacioppo, wearing a PlayStation 5 T-shirt, reportedly standing outside. The cameraperson approaches the man and he turns around to go back inside the house. People vs.Preds published chat logs in which Cacioppo appeared to invite a man, presuming to be 15 years old, to come over to perform sexual acts.

Kotaku received a statement from a People vs. Preds representative stating that they had given evidence to the police following public posting of the video. “The police department doesn’t work with ‘Cyber groups’ like us,” the representative said. “That’s when the internet takes over.”

Sony has not responded to Polygon’s request for comment.