By Philip Newman
A 56-year-old Middle Village man has been charged with sharing and possessing hundreds of files of child sex abuse material collected online, including videos of prepubescent girls as young as 5 years old being abused, the Queens district attorney said.
DA Richard Brown identified the defendant as John Porciello, 56, of 64th Street. He was arraigned Dec. 13 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Danielle Hartman on a criminal complaint charging him with 27 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 27 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child.
Hartman set bail at $75,000 bond or $35,000 cash and ordered Porciello to return to court Dec. 27. If convicted, Porciello could get up to seven years in prison.
“The defendant’s alleged collection of sex abuse imagery is both revolting and disgusting and underscores the critical need for law enforcement’s Internet surveillance initiative to protect children from pedophiles and predators,” Brown said.
The DA said the defendant is accused of accumulating hundreds of thousands of videos and photos of youngsters – many who hadn’t reached puberty – of being sexually abused by adult men and women.
“The public should be aware that these images are, of all intents and purposes, crime scene photos and videos of real children that are being used in the most heinous ways, “ Brown said. “These youngsters must live with the horror of their childhood for the rest of their lives,” Brown said.
