Suffolk Reporter

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney has announced the indictment of Richard L. Wolffe, Jr., a 39-year-old resident of Bay Shore, on charges related to the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Wolffe faces multiple counts of Possession of a Sexual Performance by a Child for allegedly uploading and possessing explicit images and videos.

District Attorney Tierney expressed concern over current legal constraints, stating, "The fact that prosecutors cannot even ask for bail for consumers of child sexual abuse images and videos is wrong and our lawmakers need to wake up." He emphasized the gravity of such offenses, noting that "each image in cases like these represents a crime scene and a child whose innocence was violently stolen."

The investigation began in August 2022 when the Suffolk County Police Department received information suggesting that Wolffe had uploaded illicit material to cloud storage. On July 27, 2023, authorities executed a search warrant at his home, where they reportedly found several electronic devices. Among these was an external hard drive discovered in Wolffe's bedroom desk. Forensic analysis uncovered over 5,000 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse involving children under ten years old. Wolffe was subsequently arrested on August 23, 2023.