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Breadcrumb Start you are here >Home/New Releases/03-22-2006

March 22, 2006

Ex-Priest Charged in On-line Sting

Thomas Bender arraigned today

MINEOLA, NY - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Thomas Bender, 71, has been charged with five counts of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree, a Class E felony, and one count of Attempted Criminal Sexual Act, a misdemeanor, for his alleged involvement in an on-line discussion of a sexual nature with a detective of the Nassau County Police Department who was posing as a 14 year-old boy. Following the AOL Instant Message conversations with the investigator, the defendant attempted to meet the “14 year-old boy” at an undisclosed Nassau County location, where he was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department.

· A person is guilty of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree when knowing the character and content of the communication which, in whole or in part, depicts actual or simulated nudity or sexual conduct, and which is harmful to minors, he intentionally uses any computer communication system allowing the input, output, or examination or transfer, of computer data or computer programs from one computer to another, to initiate or engage in such communication with a person who is a minor (§235.22, Penal Law).

He was arraigned today in First District Court, Hempstead, New York, and is being held on $180,000 cash bail.

ADA Stephen Treglia, Chief of the Cyber Crime Unit, is handling the case for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Bender is being represented by Legal Aid.

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Name: Thomas Bender
Age: 71
Address: Easton, PA
Charges: Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to a Minor 1° (5 counts), Attempted Criminal Sexual Act
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