He Catfished and Molested a Middle School Girl. Then He Plotted Her Murder From Jail.

A registered sex offender in Rhode Island has admitted to luring a 12-year-old girl into sexual encounters — and later trying to have her killed to stop her from testifying. 

Chandler J. Cardente, 30, pleaded guilty in federal court to three felony charges, including enticement of a minor and interstate murder-for-hire, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.

Cardente — who was already a registered sex offender after pleading no contest to molesting a 2-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl in 2014, according to WJAR — met his 12-year-old victim while posing as a 17-year-old on a messaging app in 2021, according to the US Attorney’s Office. 

He told the minor he wanted to have sex with her — after several months of talking online, Cardente met the girl a short distance from her middle school.

Prosecutors said he drove her to several locations in Rhode Island and engaged in sexual contact with her multiple times. 

A short time later, he was arrested and taken into state custody, per the office. 

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Behind bars, Cardente called a prospective hitman — an undercover police officer — to murder the girl because she was “a witness” who needed “to end up dead,” according to the US Attorney. 

He offered $200 in cash and $1,500 worth of tattoo equipment in exchange, per prosecutors.

Cardente pleaded guilty in federal court on March 20, and was sentenced this week to 35 years in federal prison. He is already serving a 35-year state sentence for molesting the child; the federal term will run concurrently, with release expected no earlier than 2056.