Sunnyside Man Jailed For X-Rated Stash
A Sunnyside man is spending the next several years behind bars after admitting earlier this year in court to possessing a large child pornography stash, prosecutors announced on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Ernest Hernandez, 29, of 49th Street, initially arrested in June 2012 through a police investigation, pled guilty in March of this year to a charge of promoting a sexual performance of a child.
During a sentencing hearing on Monday, Sept. 15, Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Melendez ordered Hernandez to serve two to six years in prison, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown noted.
Law enforcement sources said Hernandez was arrested at his Sunnyside home on June 6, 2012 after the NYPD executed a search warrant subsequent to an ongoing investigation.
Detectives reportedly linked Hernandez to the explicit downloads through a peer-to-peer network, in which they obtained his IP address.
During the raid, prosecutors said, law enforcement agents seized Hernandez’s computer and several external hard drives. A forensic examination of the machines found nearly 3,000 photos and more than 600 videos of children involved in sexual activity.
In statements to detectives, Brown said, Hernandez admitted that he had been looking at child porn since he was 17 years old.
“Child pornography strikes at the heart of innocence- seuxually victimizing the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society,” Brown said in a statement Tuesday. “The videos and images on [Hernandez’s] computer and portable hard drives were vile and extremely disturbing. Let this be a warning to others: If they use the Internet for their own sexual gratification and engage in activity that involves children, they will be punished.”
Senior Assistant District Attorney Kateri A. Gasper of the DA’s Computer Crimes Unit prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, bureau chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, deputy bureau chief.
