New York ‘cannibal cop’ convicted of kidnapping plot

New York City police officer Gilbert Valle was convicted on Tuesday of conspiring to kidnap and eat young women.

The New York Times reported that Valle could be sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping conspiracy, and also faces a five-year jail sentence for using a law enforcement database to research potential victims.

During the trial, prosecutors highlighted internet records showing Valle, who became known as the “cannibal cop,” visiting several websites devoted to fetishes involving the kidnapping and cooking of young women. During his bail hearing in November 2012, they said, Valle said in an online chat that he wanted to have “girl meat” as a Thanksgiving meal.

“The evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Valle’s plans were real, that he was serious, that he was not just entertaining himself,” prosecutor Hadassa Waxman told jurors on March 7.

Valle’s attorneys said the case against him was based on scenarios that their client had not made reality.

“It was all fantasy — sick, twisted, ugly fantasies, traded on the computer,” defense attorney Julia L. Gatto said during her summation. “That’s what this prosecution rests on, the ugliness of Gil’s thoughts. We don’t convict human beings because of ugly thoughts.”