Nesconset man gets 10 years for second child porn offense
A federal judge sentenced a Nesconset man — the first person convicted on Long Island in the 1980s under a then-relatively new state child pornography statute — to 10 years in federal prison on a more recent child porn case, officials said.
Philip Godek pleaded guilty in November in the new case to possession of child pornography, following an arrest by FBI agents, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler sentenced Godek Tuesday, in federal court in Central Islip, officials said.
Godek’s arrest followed a complaint by his landlords of 13 years that he had not paid rent for three months. The landlords entered his apartment after hearing what sounded like an alarm going off, officials said.
There they found what they said was child pornography, officials said.
FBI agents obtained a search warrant and discovered a “substantial volume” of child pornography in the apartment involving boys who appeared to be as young as 10-years-old, according to court records.
Godek was unemployed and had been living most recently in his car, officials said.
He told agents he had downloaded the material from the Internet, officials said.
In 1981, Godek, 27 at the time and an auto parts salesman, was arrested for attempting to sell a postal inspector child pornography under a five-year-old state statute aimed at curtailing the material, according to officials.
At the time, officials in the Suffolk District Attorney’s office said Godek’s case was the first under the new statute. The amount of child pornography seized in the 1981 case was the largest amount recovered in Suffolk County history.
Although Godek faced up to seven years in prison, he was eventually sentenced to five years probation.
Godek’s attorney, Joseph Ryan, of Melville, and Eastern District Assistant United States Attorney Allen Bode declined to comment after the sentencing in the federal case.
Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.
Heuermann admits to being Gilgo serial killer ... Victims' families react to guilty plea ... Suffolk DA promises families closure ... Building the LIE
Heuermann admits to being Gilgo serial killer ... Victims' families react to guilty plea ... Suffolk DA promises families closure ... Building the LIE
