A Brooklyn youth basketball coach was arrested Thursday on federal charges alleging he paid minors, including at least one he met through a church-run program, to produce explicit material that he shared through an encrypted messaging app.
Michael Jafferakos, who has coached and later served as commissioner for the Catholic basketball league since 2017, was taken into custody Sept. 25 after Homeland Security Investigations agents searched his Brooklyn home.
Investigators allege Jafferakos admitted to paying multiple minors to produce sexually explicit material between July 2024 and September 2025.
An attorney for Jafferakos declined to comment when contacted by amNewYork.
The Diocese of Brooklyn said that following his arrest, Jafferakos was immediately suspended from all involvement with the Our Lady of Grace Gravesend Athletic Association, where he served on the executive board and as Intramural Basketball Commissioner. He has also had all program and facility access revoked.
“We will not be commenting further on this matter out of regard for the legal process and the individuals involved,” a spokesperson for the diocese said. “The Diocese of Brooklyn is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our parish community, especially our youth.”
Electric bike and cash for content
According to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York, agents seized at least nine electronic devices and said they found hundreds of illicit images and videos on at least one of those devices.
According to Rachel Kidd, a Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations, Jafferakos often acted at the direction of another man, identified in messages as “Anthony,” who sent him money through Zelle in exchange for the material. Court documents say Jafferakos also shared some of the files in a Telegram group.
The complaint details allegations involving at least two boys, including a 14-year-old player from the church basketball program and another 14-year-old in Wisconsin.
The alleged incidents involving a member of the basketball team occurred as recently as this week, according to the complaint. Special Agent Kidd alleges that Jafferakos told her that “Anthony” saw the victim on the basketball program’s Instagram account and asked him to approach the teen to produce child sexual abuse material.
“Jafferakos said that Anthony agreed to pay Minor Victim 1 directly for such material by purchasing him an electronic bicycle,” the complaint reads.
Kidd said that after reviewing Jafferakos’ iPhone, she allegedly identified at least two videos of the teen in question “engaging in sexually explicit conduct.” She alleges that the teen airdropped Jafferakos the two videos at 9 p.m. on Sept. 22.
The special agent said that during the review of the coach’s iPhone, she also allegedly found a 16-minute video of Jafferakos giving the same teen a massage. She said the teen was only wearing underwear during the recording that was allegedly taken Sept. 22 in the basement of the church building where Jafferakos works.
According to the complaint, the mother of the second victim, based in Wisconsin, contacted local police on Sept. 19, 2024, after discovering her 14-year-old son had been sending an individual sexually explicit videos of himself.
Prosecutors allege that the phone number the child sent the video to corresponds with the one subscribed to Jafferakos.
The 14-year-old allegedly told Oconomowoc County police that he had met Jafferakos on Snapchat, and that the basketball coach had previously offered to fly him to New York City.
The criminal complaint alleges that the teen sent Jafferakos three videos of him engaging in sexual acts during the month of August 2024. It also alleges that Jafferakos made 15 payments to the teen via Apple Pay from July 28, 2024, to in or about September 8, 2024.
Following his arrest on Thursday, Jafferakos appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court, where a judge ordered him detained without bail.
The Diocese of Brooklyn is asking anyone with information or who may have been involved to contact the Diocesan Reporting Line at (888) 634-4499 “so that we can offer our support and resources during this difficult time.”
