A scoutmaster from Bayside pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing two 13-year-old Boy Scouts over a two-year period at a Little Neck church, officials said.
Ronald E. Occhipinti, 46, of 58-14 East Hampton Blvd., admitted he sexually abused and took explicit photographs of the two boys at the church and at his home, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
As a result of his plea to the sex charges, Occhipinti, who was a volunteer leader with Troop 183 in Great Neck, faces a prison term of up to 20 years when he is sentenced on June 12 by Acting Supreme Court Judge Pauline A. Mullings, Brown said.
"His young victims were placed in his care and protection, and he abused their trust and destroyed their innocence," Brown said in a prepared statement.
Occhipinti admitted in court that between September 2003 and Aug. 6, 2005, he took one victim to his residence and another to a church before scout meetings there and performed sex acts on them, Brown said.
Occhipinti also said he had the victims disrobe so he could photograph them in obscene poses, according to the prosecutor.
After Occhipinti was arrested in August 2005, a source told Newsday that authorities had tracked him through an Internet photo of one victim, who was wearing a visible troop number. Boy Scout officials also told Newsday at the time that Occhipinti, an employee of a Long Island burglar alarm company, had undergone abuse prevention training as part of the Boy Scouts' leadership program three months before the sexual crimes took place in Queens.
"He is very remorseful for his conduct," said defense attorney Glenn Morak of Manhattan. The attorney said that Monday's plea in Queens covered allegations involving Occhipinti and the same two victims in Suffolk County, Bergen County, N.J., and Staten Island. The allegations in those counties have not been made public.
Occhipinti, who officials said was terminated as a scout leader when he was arrested last year and had been free on bail, was taken into custody Monday to await sentencing.