Suffolk DA: Sex abuse charges for ex-baby-sitter in Commack

A former Commack man has been charged with photographing and recording himself engaging in sex acts with three Suffolk County children younger than 11, prosecutors said Friday.

Benjamin Fielman, 27, now of Century, Florida, pleaded not guilty to a 27-count indictment charging him with course of sexual conduct against a child, use of a child in a sexual performance and promoting a sexual performance by a child.

Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn ordered him held without bail.

“We have serious concerns there are more victims,” Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said at a news conference, urging those who know of potential victims to reach out to police at 631-852-6279.

Sini said Fielman “sexually abused and took sexually explicit photos and videos of three unrelated children who were in his care between 2009 and 2014” while he lived in Commack.

Sini said Fielman found victims through his work as a private baby sitter and his job as an assistant teacher at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center in Commack, where he worked from 2008 to 2011. Officials at the Suffolk Y did not respond to a request for comment.

Fielman moved to Florida in 2014, and was arrested for sexually assaulting a child there. He ultimately pleaded guilty to committing sexual battery on a child and lewd or lascivious exhibition of a child, and is serving a 10-year sentence. If convicted of the top charge in Suffolk, he faces an additional 25 years in prison.

During the investigation of the Florida case, Sini said authorities there determined that some of Fielman’s photos of children engaged in sex acts were taken in Suffolk. Further investigation by Suffolk police resulted in the indictment here, Sini said.

Sini declined to say much about the case. He would not identify the children’s gender, say if the Suffolk Y is cooperating with investigators, identify what kind of device on which the photos and videos were found, or say anything about how the children are doing now.

Fielman’s father and attorney disputed the charges.

“These charges that Benjamin is accused of doing in New York are 100 percent not true,” said Ivan Fielman of Tampa, Florida. “There’s not a nefarious bone in Ben’s body. It’s not in this person’s DNA to do this.”

He called the investigation a “witch hunt” by Suffolk police, and said they badgered people into making accusations against his son.

“If we had more people like Benjamin in the world, we’d have less problems with children in the world,” his father said.

Fielman’s attorney, Bryan Browns of the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society, said, “He is presumed innocent. We have seen no evidence against him in this case.”

Sini said the accusations against Fielman are “atrocious.”

“To rape a child, to subject a child to exploitation is something a child will have to live with for the rest of their lives,” he said.