PlayStation Boss Fired After Appearing In Paedophile Sting Video

George Cacioppo, one of Sony's senior vice presidents, has been terminated from the company following his appearance in an amateur paedophilia sting video.

Through Grindr, Cacioppo allegedly solicited a 15-year-old boy for sex and they exchanged photos, telling the boy that his name was "Jeff". He gave the child his address and the boy replied that he would catch an Uber to the location. However, the other person in the exchange was not a teenager and was in fact a member of the team running the People v. Preds YouTube channel. Their videos depict people who have been caught trying to engage children for sexual activities and Cacioppo was the 93rd individual who was "busted" by People v Preds.

In the video which was recorded at 4:30 in the morning, the cameraman approaches a house where Cacioppo, wearing a PS5 logo t shirt, is waiting outside. Once spotted, the former Sony senior vice president walks away from the cameraman into his house, closes the front door and ignores the cameraman's shouts that he is going to alert law enforcement to Cacioppo's alleged activities.

"We are aware of the situation and the employee in question has been terminated from employment," said Sony in a statement supplied on Sunday. Cacioppo had spent eight years with Sony and primarily worked on the PlayStation Store systems and user experience as an engineer, according to his LinkedIn profile. Neither Cacioppo nor the San Diego Police Department have offered statements in response to the events that occurred over the weekend.

After speaking out against the problematic culture at Activision, Sony was subjected to a lawsuit from an ex-employee who criticised the way that the company has treated its women employees. The suit claims that Sony lacks “sufficient oversight or safety measures to protect against intentional and overt discrimination," and that this employee was terminated when she brought her concerns to the higher-ups. She invited others to come forward and join her in order to “secure adequate relief” for the “lost compensation, back pay, employment benefits, and emotional distress.”

Topics: Sony, PlayStation