BRONX MAN CHARGED WITH PROMOTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VIA THE INTERNET

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 35 year old man has been arrested and charged with posting on the Internet hundreds of images of children engaging in sexual acts with adults. Some of the children were as young as 3 years old, according to court papers.

Seth Ritchie, of 1268 Findlay Avenue, the Bronx, is facing numerous counts of Promoting a sexual performance by a child, a Class D felony offense, and Possessing a sexual performance by a child, a Class E felony offense. He is facing maximum sentences of up to 7 years imprisonment on each count if convicted of the Class D felony offense, and up to 4 years imprisonment on each count if convicted of the Class E felony offense.

Ritchie is charged with uploading the pornographic images to a site entitled “You Send It,” which allows for the transfer of large files over the Internet. The site administrators contacted the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children and reported the illegal images. Once investigators determined that the material in question was “Child Pornography” they traced the source of the material to Ritchie’s address in the Bronx and contacted the NYPD Computer Crimes Squad. Detectives executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home and seized a computer hard drive, floppy discs and compact discs containing hundreds of images of children engaging in sexual acts with adults.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Bergida of the Investigations Division is prosecuting the case.