Upstate man faces LI child sex charges

An upstate man Garden City Village police said posed online as a 23-year-old man has been charged with luring a Nassau girl into sending him videos of herself involved in sexual acts, according to police.

Timothy Laskaris, 59, a landscaper from Getzville, was arrested Wednesday and charged with promoting the sexual performance of a child, disseminating indecent material to minors and endangering a child's welfare. He was ordered held on bail of $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond at his arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead, and is due back in court Monday.

The girl was identified only as a Nassau resident under the age of 16.

Laskaris befriended the girl in an online chat room and sent her pictures of himself as a 23-year-old man, according to Det. Sgt. Jim Bartkowski of the Garden City Village police.

The pictures he sent to the girl were cropped of any facial features, Bartkowski said.

From February through July this year, Laskaris had the girl send him 20 videos of acts that he ordered her to perform, according to court papers and police.

His requests became "demanding and abusive," Bartkowski said.

When she refused, he threatened to post her previous videos online, Bartkowski said. The girl eventually went to her father and then the Garden City Village police and turned over her videos.

Investigators traced the man's Internet provider addresses to Laskaris.

Calls to the Laskaris residence were not answered Thursday.

The two did not appear to have met in person, Bartkowski said.

The investigation is continuing.