A convicted sex offender, who was , faces a new charge for child pornography, Yorktown police said.
Jonathan L. DeLaura, 37, was charged with possessing a sexual performance by a child, a felony. The arrest stems from an investigation in conjunction with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
As part of the investigation, on Feb. 8 at 4:20 p.m., members of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and the executed a search warrant at the man's Jefferson Valley residence where they seized an electronic device containing child pornographic material. Police said they later revealed DeLaura owned the device.
Yorktown Detective George Davis stopped the defendant on Croton Falls Road in Mahopac on Feb. 24 and took him into custody.
DeLaura was sent to the Westchester County Jail without bail and was scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 28. According to a clerk at the , the man's case was continued to March 13.
His Putnam County charges include allegations that he was meeting underage boys through social networking chat rooms, soliciting explicit photographs, and recently engaging in sexual activity with an underage boy.
Sheriffs arrested DeLaura on Feb. 3 in a business parking lot in the town of Putnam Valley during a sting operation when DeLaura thought he was going to meet a boy to engage in sexual conduct with him, according to officials.
He was charged with three counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, felonies, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, misdemeanors.
Investigators said the man would typically pose as a 17-year-old female in order to meet young boys. Once he gained their trust and engaged them in explicit sexual conversations, he would also request them to send him explicit photographs of themselves. He would then attempt to meet them at an arranged location to engage in sex acts with them.
If a recipient declined to meet him or after meeting him, police allege, DeLaura would use the sexual conversations and photos to prevent victims from calling police. He warned his victims that if they did, he would expose the photos and sexual conversations to their friends, coaches and other people.
Putnam County investigators are hoping to speak with anyone who has had contact with him. They said DeLaura would use the computer screen names "Sillyrabbit," "Damastrmynd" and "Riddlerboy."
DeLaura is a Level 1 sex offender due to a 2009 conviction of sexual misconduct in a case involving a 12-year-old boy.
Anyone having had contact with the Internet screen names used by DeLaura in a social networking chat site or who were victimized by him are encouraged to call investigators at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation at (845) 225-8060. All calls will be kept strictly confidential.
