East Elm. Man Booked For Illicit Content
An East Elmhurst man has been charged with 15 counts of possession of a sexual performance by a child after graphic images of young girls were allegedly found on a laptop computer that he dropped off to be repaired at an electronics store in Long Island City.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Michael Murray, 61, of 89th Street, in East Elmhurst, who was charged with 15 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
“[Murphy] is alleged to have had some very disturbing photographs of children being sexually abused on his computer,” Brown said in a statement last Wednesday, Apr. 9, announcing the charges. “These photographs depict real children who will no doubt be emotionally and physically scarred for the rest of their lives.”
According to the charges, on Apr. 1 at approximately 1 p.m., a technician at the Best Buy store located at 50-01 Northern Blvd. in Long Island City began a repair on a laptop computer that had allegedly been dropped off by the defendant on Mar. 26.
After turning on the computer and booting it up, the technician observed that the screen saver on the computer was a slide show of multiple images of young girls posing provocatively or engaging in sexual acts with adult men .
Reportedly, the technician alerted his supervisor to the images and the supervisor allegedly discovered 15 images of young girls in various sexual acts and called the police.
Last Wednesday morning, detectives went to Murphy’s home, where he allegedly admitted that he knew what was on his screen saver. He allegedly further admitted that he has been exchanging files of child pornography with others on the Internet for approximately five years.
The investigation and arrest were conducted by Det. Paul Byrne, of the NYPD Major Case Team of Vice Enforcement, under the supervision of Lt. Marcus Morales and Sgt. Sammy Melisi, and the overall supervision of Deputy Inspector Anthony Favale, coordinator of Vice Enforcement, and Chief Thomas Purtell, chief of the Organized Crime Control Bureau.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Kateri A. Gasper and Assistant District Attorney Jeanine R. Diehl are prosecuting the case, under the supervision of Robert D. Alexander, chief of the District Attorney’s Computer Crimes Unit, and Anthony M. Communiello, bureau chief of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau, and Oscar W. Ruiz, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
It was noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
