Sony Senior Vice President Suspended Following Paedophile Allegations


A senior vice president at Sony has been suspended from his position at the tech company after paedophile allegations are levied against them [via CNET].

Over the weekend, the online vigilante group ‘People V. Preds’ posted a video that accused George Capioppo of engaging in paedophilia. The group operates outside of the law and, according the channel description, aims to “catch online preds that prey on children for sexual activities”.

YouTube video

The group reportedly posed as a 15-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr and communicated with a man who appears to be Capioppo. The two then apparently exchanged sexual images and conversation before shortly arranging to meet up in person. Screenshots of the conversation are available to view on a Google Drive link.

Capioppo was working on the PlayStation Store

The text conversation clearly shows that the person on the other side of the phone was aware that they were communicating with a 15-year-old and still wanted to meet up for sexual favours. A selfie was sent which sees a man akin to Capioppo wearing a black PS5 t-shirt. According to LinkedIn, Capioppo has been at Sony since 2013 working on the PlayStation Store.

The man appearing to Capioppo arranges to meet up with the 15-year-old and provides his address. As the vigilantes approach his door, the same man wearing a PS5 t-shirt opens the door. They quickly retreat inside once confronted with the allegations.

CNET reports that Capioppo has since been suspended from his position at Sony. The vigilante group told Kotaku that the police department doesn’t tend to work with ‘Cyber groups’, hence why the information was released publicly. It does mention that the collected evidence has been handed over to the correct authorities, however.

It’s unclear at this time whether there is an ongoing investigation into Capioppo or whether any charges have been pressed.

[Featured Image Credit: Sony]