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Brooklyn Senior Citizens Arrested In Child Pornography Bust
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 31, 2014
Modified Oct 31, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 31, 2014
Modified Oct 31, 2014
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Two senior citizens, ages 68 and 70, were arrested and charged with possessing hundreds of videos and images of child pornography, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson's office.
The defendants, 68-year-old Harvey Epstein and 70-year-old John DeCotis, allegedly downloaded videos showing boys and girls "engaging in sex acts with adult men and women," with one video depicting a child in diapers. Detectives found 221 video files on Epstein's computer in his Sheesphead Bay apartment, and 21 video files were recovered on a computer found in DeCotis's Old Mill Basin home. DeCotis allegedly told authorities he had downloaded 50 to 100 videos depicting child pornography over the past five to six years.
Epstein, who was arrested yesterday was charged with 221 counts of child pornography possession, and is being held on $5,000 bond or $1,000 cash. DeCotis, who was arrested on October 2nd, was charged with 21 counts of child pornography possession and is being held on $7,500 bail.
The D.A.'s office says they were able to track Epstein and DeCotis down using peer to peer sharing networks and identifying their IP addresses. In a statement to the press, D.A. Thompson pledged to continue fighting child pornography. "It is shocking that anyone, particularly men who are 68- and 70-years-old, would watch and collect such sick images," he said. "The children in these videos are real children who are being sexually abused to satisfy deviants who troll the Internet."
Both men face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
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child pornography
harvey epstein
John DeCotis
original
Rebecca Fishbein
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