More victims of convicted pedophile Jonathan Luna may be out there: Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg
The convicted creep sent to prison this week for molesting a young boy he babysat may have more victims out there – especially because he worked at several other jobs that put him in direct contact with children.
Jonathan Luna, 34, was hit with a 12-year sentence Thursday for abusing a now-teenaged boy for six years, starting in 2017 when the boy was in second grade.
But Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is worried he’s not the only one.
“Based on the charged individual’s employment history working with children in afterschool programs and summer camps, we are deeply concerned that there may be additional victims,” Bragg said in a statement.
Luna was around kids for years at his jobs, which included a stint as an assistant scoutmaster and cubmaster for the Boy Scout Federation of Greater New York from 2007 to 2012.
He also worked as a counselor at the Boy Scout Keowa Summer Camp in Sullivan County in 2015; an afterschool counselor at the McBurney YMCA Afterschool Program at PS 41 in Greenwich Village from 2013 to 2016; and a counselor at Camp Wayne for Boys in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, from 2016 to 2017.
Luna was also an afterschool counselor at the Imogen Foundation at PS 340 in Chelsea from March to May in 2022.
“If your child may have had contact with this individual, I urge you to contact my Office’s Child Abuse Unit by calling (212) 335-4308,” Bragg said in the statement.
In a Friday email, the Boy Scouts of America said they had no record of any complaints against Luna during his tenure, which ended in 2015.
The organization also said he is no longer allowed to participate in Boy Scouts “in any capacity.”
“Nothing is more important than the safety and protection of youth in our programs — it is our top priority,” the statement said.
The YMCA did not return a request for comment.
Luna pleaded guilty May 30 in Manhattan Supreme Court to one count of “course of sexual conduct” in the first degree.
Besides his lengthy prison sentence, Luna will also submit to 13 years of post-release supervision for his crimes.
He will also register as a sex offender
In court on Thursday, the mother of the abused boy castigated Luna by calling him a “straight-up predator, a pedophile.”
“Up until then, we considered you part of the family,” the tearful mom said. “I cared for you more like a nephew than a babysitter.”
Luna – whose sickening hold over the boy only ended when he told his parents what his babysitter had done – would not look at her during her heart-wrenching 10-minute speech.
The boy still has nightmares about Luna’s abuse, his mom said, and he remains tormented by his actions.
But Bragg commended the boy for speaking up about the abuse he endured.
“Thanks to the bravery of this young survivor who came forward, we were able to hold Jonathan Luna accountable for his horrific crime,” the DA said.
