By Alexander Dworkowitz
A man who grew up in Whitestone pleaded guilty last week to storing dozens of images of child pornography on his computer, the Queens district attorney said.
Warren Young, 33, admitted in a Kew Gardens court hearing last Thursday to possessing digital images depicting sex acts between men and girls, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Young’s Whitestone home, which sits across the street from PS 209, was searched by authorities in the summer, the district attorney said. After his computer was confiscated, the audio visual technician moved to the West Village, where he was arrested in October, authorities said.
Young pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, and he remains free on $75,000 bail, the district attorney said.
State Supreme Court Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt is expected to give Young a sentence between one year and four months to four years in prison on March 13.
Last year Young tried to arrange a “sexual encounter” with a person he believed was a 12-year-old girl, Brown said. The person turned out to be an undercover police officer working in a sting operation, the district attorney said.
As a result of the meeting, police executed a search warrant at Young’s home on June 27 and confiscated his desktop computer, Brown said.
Young had about 30 images of child pornography stored on his computer, the district attorney said. Some of the images were of teenagers, while about a dozen were of young girls, he said.
“The sexual victimization of children and the trafficking and exchange of child pornography is a serious societal menace that warrants relentless law enforcement response, including the certainty of imprisonment,” Brown said in a statement.
Neighbors expressed shock when they learned Young had admitted to possessing child pornography.
“He grew up with my son,” said one man who lives on Young’s block, who did not wish to give his name. “He was a very gullible kid, even when he was young.”
Young lived with his mother, sister and brother, who still reside in Whitestone, neighbors said.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 1-718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
