Larger international child porn investigation led to the arrest of a Queens man
Prosecutors said on Saturday that a man from Queens was arrested for using cryptocurrencies to purchase child pornography.
Andre Hyman was taken into custody on Friday after an investigation by the Manhattan and Queens district attorneys’ offices.
The police say that Hyman, who is 27 years old, was named as a suspect in a larger international child porn investigation involving people who sold explicit photos and videos of children through bitcoin addresses.
One website offered users the opportunity to see child porn in exchange for bitcoin.
Prosecutors claim that Hyman, a resident of Jamaica, Queens, purchased and downloaded many photos of pre-pubescent females onto his home computer via the use of a mobile payment company called Square Inc.
Prosecutors said that Hyman was taken into custody at his residence as detectives carried out a search warrant and seized the child pornography. One of the images allegedly recovered was of a 4-year-old girl participating in a sexual act. Members of the Queens DA’s detective team also seized materials that could be used to make fake checks.
Hyman admitted that he had purchased the child porn in May and that he had made the fake checks. He was charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child, forgery, and possessing a forged instrument. If found guilty, he faces up to a 7-year prison sentence on the pornography charges alone.
