An NYPD highway cop from Suffolk County has been indicted by a Queens grand jury and charged with possessing and promoting a sexual performance by a child, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Yavier Julio, 35, allegedly used his cellphone to send an explicit video of a boy no older than 6 being sexually abused by a female adult.
Julio was arraigned March 26 before Queens Supreme Court Justice John Zoll, who released the defendant on his own recognizance and set June 4 as Julio’s next court date
According to the charges, a court-authorized search warrant was obtained in November and Julio’s phone was confiscated and a forensic examination allegedly found the video that the defendant is accused of sending to another person, even though the video had been deleted. The exam also found two other videos of children being sexually abused.
“The defendant, who is vested with enforcing the law as a member of the New York Police Department, is accused of committing a horrible breach of trust by possessing and disseminating a video that is for all intents and purposes images of a crime scene,” Katz said. “The defendant is accused of using his cell phone to share a video of a child being abused by an adult. This alleged behavior is wholly unacceptable of anyone, especially a member of law enforcement.”
If convicted, Julio faces up to seven years in prison.
“We tak these allegations extremely seriously,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said. “The officer has been suspended without pay. I commend the professional actions of the NYPD investigators from the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Queens District Attorney’s Office for their work on this case.”
