LI man faces child pornography charges
Matthew Veltri, 26, of Massapequa Park, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday in Hempstead District Court on charges of possessing child pornography. Credit: NCDA
A Massapequa Park man is facing child pornography charges locally while also being held on a warrant in a Pennsylvania case in which he's accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Matthew Veltri, 26, appeared in First District Court in Hempstead on Friday for an arraignment on six felony counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child less than 16 years old, according to court records.
A court official said later that Veltri entered a not-guilty plea.
Prosecutors said Nassau’s Legal Aid Society represented Veltri at his arraignment, but an inquiry left at the agency’s office wasn’t answered later in the day.
A felony complaint says local authorities carried out a search warrant earlier this week at Veltri's Ocean Avenue home, and alleges they seized a laptop computer from his room that had still images depicting child pornography.
A judge set Veltri’s bail on the local charges at $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash, and remanded him to jail in connection with a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania, according to prosecutors.
A detective in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said Friday in an interview that Veltri is accused of meeting in person with a 13-year-old victim three times in March and abusing him after the two connected on the social networking app Grindr and then began texting.
Hilltown Township police Det. Louis Bell also said that Veltri faces 14 criminal charges in Pennsylvania, including multiple felonies.
Bell said a concerned relative of the alleged victim notified police after finding a video on the 13-year-old's phone.
A spokesman for the Nassau district attorney's office and the Pennsylvania detective said the investigation into Veltri is ongoing.
