A Calverton man pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges in U.S. District Court in Central Islip last week.
Taylor Pick, 38, held without bail since January 2020, entered guilty pleas Aug. 3 to federal charges of Conspiracy to Sexually Exploit Children and Sexual Exploitation of a Child. Pick’s sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 15, 2023. He will remain in custody.
According to a February 2020 federal grand jury indictment, Pick conspired with Jonathan Berretta of Centereach, Maureen Serra of Lake Ronkonkoma and Benjamin Downs of Massachusetts, to induce one or more minors “to engage in sexually explicit conduct” for the purpose of producing images and/or videos that would be transported and transmitted in interstate and foreign commerce.
Pick was also charged with intentionally persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing a male child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing photographic images of the sexually explicit conduct on dates in December 2019 and January 2020. He pleaded guilty to one of the three counts of sexual exploitation of the “John Doe” male child.
Pick has been held without bail because a federal district court judge determined there was a “serious risk that the defendant will obstruct justice and/or otherwise endanger the safety of another person or the community.”
Under federal law, both offenses are punishable by sentences of 15 to 30 years in prison.
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