ROSEVILLE, Mich. – A Royal Oak man who lured a 14-year-old to his home over Snapchat, left another teenage girl in a Detroit parking lot after raping her, and had a runaway hiding naked under his bed has been sentenced to federal prison.
Nikolas Boris Mariani, 21, of Royal Oak (formerly of Roseville), was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and receiving child pornography.
Recommended Videos
He pleaded guilty in the fall of 2020 and admitted that he had received sexually explicit images from a 14-year-old girl and lured her over Snapchat to meet him for sexual activity.
In a separate incident, police said they found a different 14-year-old girl -- a runaway -- hiding nearly naked under Mariani’s bed. She told officers that she had met him over Snapchat and they had engaged in sex acts.
DNA evidence also linked Mariani to a third incident in which he picked up a 14-year-old girl from her home in Flint, engaged in sex acts with her, and left her in a Detroit parking lot, according to authorities.
“This offender serially exploited minors that he met online,” United States Attorney Dawn Ison said. “Our office will work tirelessly to pursue and prosecute individuals who exploit vulnerable children.”
Initial investigation
Mariani was first investigated by Roseville police in connection with an adult victim, according to court records.
On Nov. 15, 2020, an 18-year-old woman told authorities that she had been sexually assaulted by Mariani.
The woman said she, her 17-year-old female friend, Mariani, and Mariani’s 21-year-old friend went to Mariani’s house on Nov. 12, 2020.
While they were there, the two women were drinking and passed out on Mariani’s bed, police said. When the 18-year-old woman woke up, she said she felt pain as if she had been sexually assaulted, according to authorities.
She later received a video from the 17-year-old woman that showed Mariani assaulting her while she was unconscious, officials said. Police said it appears Mariani took the video.
First minor victim
On Nov. 16, 2020, the mother of a 14-year-old girl called Roseville police to report a possible sexual assault between Mariani and her daughter, officials said.
The woman said her daughter had asked to buy birth control after meeting Mariani on Snapchat and having a sexual conversation with him that included nude photographs, court records show.
Mariani used the Snapchat name “Boris,” and the girl’s mother recorded the conversation, police said.
When police interviewed the 14-year-old girl, she told them she had had intercourse with Mariani in the basement of his home, according to authorities. Police said the girl knew Mariani was between 19-22 years old and that he knew she was 14 years old.
Mariani voluntarily came in for an interview Dec. 15, 2020, and admitted to being “Boris” on Snapchat, officials said. He said he was aware that the girl was 14 years old, police said.
Mariani admitted to having sexual intercourse with the girl three times, court records show. He told police that the girl had sent him nude photos. His cellphone was seized at the end of the interview.
A Sterling Heights police detective reviewed Mariani’s phone and found nude images of the 14-year-old girl, authorities said. At least five meet the federal definition of child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
Police said they also found the video involving Mariani and the 18-year-old woman from November 2020.
Snapchat conversation
A Detroit FBI agent reviewed the conversation between Mariani and the 14-year-old girl on April 23, 2021, court records show.
Mariani and the girl spoke about sexual acts before he gave her his address in Roseville, the FBI agent said. The girl sent him some images that meet the definition of child pornography, the agent said.
Mariani told the girl he wanted to pick her up and have her stay at his house for the week. She said she wished she was at his house, and they spoke about sexual acts, authorities said.
Mariani told her he was recording acts with the 18-year-old and 17-year-old women mentioned above, and eventually sent her the video involving the unconscious 18-year-old woman, according to court records.
The 14-year-old girl then sent him nude photos, according to the FBI agent.
Officials said Mariani told the girl to disarm the alarms at her house and escape through a small window that didn’t have an alarm. He gave her directions and told her to come once she had birth control, authorities said.
He told her she should stay with him for weeks as the state entered another lockdown, the criminal complaint states.
The conversation ended with Mariani telling the girl to let him know about spending the night with him, officials said.
Another minor victim
Roseville police officers said they went to Mariani’s house on New Year’s Eve 2020 while searching for a missing girl. Mariani answered the door with just a shirt tied around his waist and no other clothing, police said.
He told officers nobody else was in his home and consented to a search, authorities said. Police said they found a 14-year-old girl hiding under his bed wearing a sweatshirt and nothing else.
She was not the missing girl police were looking for or the girl from the above incident, according to authorities.
Mariani told police he had met the girl through Snapchat “quick add.” He denied having sexual relations with her, officials said.
The girl told officers that she had run away from home four days ago after meeting Mariani on Snapchat a couple of months prior, according to court records. She said she had told him she was 14 years old and he had told her that he was 18 years old, authorities said.
She told Roseville police that she had engaged in sexual activity with Mariani twice while at his home, court records show.
Cellphone review
Roseville police seized two cellphones at the home, officials said. The same Detroit FBI agent reviewed Mariani’s phone and found he was using four separate Snapchat accounts, according to the criminal complaint.
Mariani would target girls through Snapchat’s “quick add” feature, officials said.
He would ask girls for their age, and if they were 16 years old or older, he would tell them his actual age, authorities said. If the girls were younger than 16, he would lie about his age and say he was younger, according to police.
The FBI agent said Mariani’s conversation with the girl found hiding under his bed has not been located.
Arrest
Mariani was arrested Dec. 31, 2020, by Roseville police on accusations of sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl found hiding under his bed, authorities said.
He was also charged with criminal sexual conduct for his sexual engagement with the other 14-year-old victim, court records show.
The criminal complain alleged Mariani received child pornography, possessed child pornography, coerced and enticed a minor and transferred obscene material to a minor.