BY KIRSTEN E. PAULSON
A 43-year-old basketball coach from Jamaica pleaded guilty on Tuesday to taking and sharing pictures of young children involved in sexual acts, prosecutors announced.
Robert Walker, 43, of 164th Street pleaded guilty on Tuesday to first-degree disseminating indecent material to minors before Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt, who said she will sentence the defendant to 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years in prison. Walker will also be required to register as a sex offender.
According to the charges, on April 22, 2014, Walker communicated with a 15-year-old boy via OoVoo, a video chat and instant messaging software. Walker ordered the boy to strip naked, pose during a video link, and send him naked pictures.
An examination of the defendant’s electronic devices also revealed 27 images of children, some as young as 8, performing sexual acts with adult men.
In addition, Walker confessed to conducting workouts with teens under the age of 16, during which he would have them remove their clothes and he would take pictures of them. Three more victims, 14- and 15-year-olds who played on the basketball team Walker coached, were discovered during searches of the defendant’s Facebook and OoVoo accounts. The three had also been manipulated to strip naked and pose during video chats, and on one occasion, in person.
“The defendant has now admitted to taking advantage of his position as a non-affiliated basketball coach to instruct teenage boys to undress and send nude photographs of themselves to him for his sexual gratification,” District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. “The victims will undoubtedly be scarred for life as a result of this man’s manipulative actions.”
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