Sent Illicit Pictures To Cop Posing As Minor
A Fresh Meadows resident was sentenced last week to serve up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to disseminate indecent material to an individual he believed was a 14-year-old girl-but was actually an NYPD detective.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Tariq K. Alam, 30, of 75th Road in Fresh Meadows, who pleaded guilty on May 14 to first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors. He appeared last Thursday, May 29, before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt, who imposed an indeterminate sentence of 1 1/2 to three years in prison.
At the time of his release, Alam will also be required to register as a sex offender.
“[Alam] admitted that he preyed upon an individual whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl-but who in actuality was an undercover detective-and that he made arrangements to meet her to have sexual relations with her,” Brown said. “The case shows the importance of Internet law enforcement surveillance initiatives in the protection of children who are underage and vulnerable to predators and should serve as a warning to parents to closely monitor their children’s Internet access and activities.”
In pleading guilty, Alam admitted that he used the social media application Meet24 on Nov. 29, 2013, to initiate an online conversation with a screen name whose profile indicated that she was 14-years-old-but in fact was a male NYPD detective working in an undercover capacity.
During the conversation, the undercover officer gave Alam “her” cell phone number and Alam proceeded to send her text messages between Nov. 29, 2013, and Feb. 19 that were sexual in nature.
In one, instance, on Nov. 29, 2013, Alam e-mailed the undercover officer a naked picture of himself from his AOL account- nyzbraveheart@aol.com.
On Feb. 19, Alam went to a prearranged meeting location in Queens to meet the girl and with whom he expected to have sexual intercourse. He was taken into custody at the location.
The investigation was conducted by Det. Paul Byrne, of the NYPD Major Case Team of Vice Enforcement, under the supervision of Lt. Marcus Morales and Sergeants Sammy Melisi and Gregory Graves, and the overall supervision of Deputy Inspector Anthony Favale, coordinator of Vice Enforcement, and Chief Thomas Purtell, chief of the Organized Crime Control Bureau.
Assistant District Attorney Jeanine R. Diehl of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, bureau chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, deputy bureau chief, and Robert D. Alexander, Computer Crimes Unit Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
