Man sentenced for videotaping girls changing in dressing room
Jun. 15—A North Carolina man who admitted videotaping juveniles as they changed in a dressing room at a Dickson City clothing store was sentenced Thursday to eight to 23 1/2 months in the Lackawanna County Prison.
Nicholas Pettograsso, formerly of New York, was also ordered to serve eight years of probation for his January guilty plea to six counts of invasion of privacy.
The sentence, imposed by Lackawanna County Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle, exceeded the standard guidelines, which called for a sentence of probation to one month in jail for each count.
Pettograsso, 30, was arrested after a juvenile discovered he was recording her as she changed in the dressing room at the Forever 21 store in the Viewmont Mall on Jan. 1, 2022.
The girl said she noticed a cell phone being held over the stall wall, with a red banner saying it was recording. She rushed out of the stall and told her aunt, who along with other people detained Pettograsso until police arrived.
Authorities later searched Pettograsso's phone and discovered a total of six videos taken of girls in the fitting room that day as well as videos of young children and adults taken at other public places on varying dates.
Pettograsso lived in New York at the time of the crime. He later moved to Mint Hill, North Carolina.
At the sentencing, one of the victims said the incident forever impacted her, as well as her younger sister, who now fears going into changing rooms.
"Seeing my little 11-year-old sister beg for me to stand guard every time she tries something on breaks my heart," the girl said. "We don't deserve to live in the fear that we do."
Pettograsso's attorney, Joseph D'Andrea, noted his client has taken significant steps to address mental health issues that factored into his commission of the crime.
"People don't want to own up to responsibility and admit wrong," D'Andrea said. "I applaud him for doing so. He is really a changed person."
While acknowledging Pettograsso's rehabilitation efforts, Moyle said she also had to consider the impact his crime had on his victims and the fact they were minors. Those facts warranted imposing a sentence beyond the standard guideline range, she said. She also declined to give him credit for 30 days he has already served.
The state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board determined Pettograsso is not a sexually violent predator. He is still mandated to register as a sex offender for 15 years, however, based on the nature of his charges.
Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.
