Police say he asked prostitutes to help him track down a child.
His wife Dina Viggiano had no comment as she left court this afternoon, her husband would not be joining her. Robert Viggiano is being held without bail after police and prosecutors say he spent six weeks trying to arrange a sexual encounter with a 10-year old girl.
"We believe we have a strong case, audio and video evidence," said Edmund Hartnett, Yonkers Police Commissioner.
Viggiano is an electrician who owns a business in Cold Spring, and lives in Fishkill. He is the father of two children, one of whom is in college.
Sources say in December, Viggiano approached prostitutes in Yonkers asking how he could go about having sex with a young child. The police department's street crime unit got wind of the alleged request and set up a sting. An undercover officer posed as a drug-addicted mother willing to sell her daughter for sex.
"My client's a family man and obviously there's a mistake here," said Lawrence Maffei.
Viggiano was arrested yesterday after police say he arrived at a prearranged location with $400 dollars and a specific kind of candy he instructed to bring.
Investigators say they're worried there could be other potential victims, in part because the 47-year-old may have worked as a karate instructor in the past.
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