GREENE – After a string of child pornography arrests in the Village of Greene, police and prosecutors say they are receiving some feedback of concern from community members about the most recent defendant alledgedly being released.
“We have received a number of calls from citizens who are under the impression that this individual was let off completely. That’s not true,” said Greene Police Chief Steven Dutcher.
John M. Gavazzi, 46, of 21 South Chenango St., Greene, was arrested June 25 and charged with possessing a sexual performance by a child and promoting a sexual performance of a child, both felonies.
In a joint investigation, the Greene PD and the New York State Troopers Computer Crimes Unit raided Gavazzi’s home and seized his computer and a number of other digital devices. The bust came following a months-long probe by the technical arm of the state police into local child pornography Internet trafficking.
Gavazzi pleaded guilty to promoting child pornography, a Class D felony, and possession of child pornography, an E felony, on July 20.
He is scheduled to be sentenced before Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd at a later date.
In court, Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride said the case was an agreed upon disposition and that Gavazzi would be sentenced to six months in local jail and serve the next 10 years on probation as a registered sex offender. The charges are over video and image contents showing a female under the age of 16 having sexual contact with an adult.
The DA also said his office had received a number of calls regarding the issue.
“Many of the callers seem to have received misinformation about the issue and are under the impression that this defendant got away with his crime because they have seen him in the community,” he said.
Both the police chief and DA said they had received complaints from citizens citing the defendant as a source of their information, and that he’d claimed the charges against him were false.
“I don’t know what was said, obviously, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to get into that kind of discussion, but Mr. Gavazzi will be appearing before the judge to be sentenced for the crimes he has already admitted to. A part of the plea required that he acknowledge his wrongdoing in the matter and accept responsibility. If we get back into court and that is not the case, then the terms of the agreement may be revisited,” said McBride.
McBride also pointed out that if Gavazzi violated the conditions of the plea arrangement, which includes staying away from children and limits his Internet access, then he would be susceptible to being resentenced to up to 7 years in state prison.
Gavazzi could not be reached for comment.
In November, police arrested James O’Brian, 43, of Greene, for nearly identical charges. He later pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing a sexual performance of a child less than 16 years old and was sentenced Nov. 14 to a split sentence of six months in local jail and 10 years of probation as a registered level one sex offender, the lowest risk level of three that are assigned in determining a defendant’s chance of reoffending.
More recently, in December, the Greene PD and the Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested Charles A. Robbins, 50, of North Chenango Street in Greene for possession of child pornography and incest, both felonies.
Federal prosecutors said Friday that he pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography via the Internet and possession of child pornography. He will appear for sentencing Sept. 24 in before Federal Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Binghamton and faces between 5 to 20 years in prison.