Nicholas Zavesky, of East Patchogue, charged with possessing child porn

An East Patchogue man was arrested Thursday and charged with possessing more than 50 images of child sex abuse, according to Suffolk County police.

Nicholas Zavesky, 43, is charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child.

He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Central Islip and was released with GPS, computer and internet monitoring, records show.

A temporary order of protection was also issued prohibiting Zavesky from contacting the alleged victims. 

Anthony La Pinta, Zavesky's attorney, described his client in an emailed statement as a 43-year-old law-abiding man "with a stellar reputation in our community and who has the full and unconditional support of his family and friends."

"These allegations are based entirely on new and complicated AI technology," La Pinta added. "Whether this evidence is reliable enough to prove Mr. Zavesky's guilt is yet to be determined."

Zavesky obtained images of a pair of girls between the ages of 12 and 16 from social media platforms and used an undisclosed artificial intelligence editing program to remove their clothes, charging documents state.

Another digitally altered image showed a man performing a sexual act on a naked teenage girl, records said.

Zavesky then emailed the images to another account, authorities said.

A police spokesman declined to say if Zavesky knew the victims.  

The arrest, police said, came following a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a national organization focused on catching distributors of child pornography on the internet.

Following an investigation by detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department’s Digital Forensics Unit, a search warrant was served at Zavesky’s home on Aug. 13 and multiple electronic devices were seized, authorities said.

Zavesky, who was arrested at his home Thursday morning, is due back in court Sept. 11. 

Newsday's Nicholas Grasso contributed to this story.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.