crime

A Le Roy man accused of making at least one sexually explicit video involving a minor isn't being held in jail because of the case's individual circumstances, said the Le Roy Police Department detective who made the arrest.

Det. John Condidorio said it was his recommendation that Stephen M. Smith be released to the supervision of Genesee Justice following his arraignment in Le Roy Town Court on charges of possessing a sexual performance by a child, promoting sexual performance of a child and use of a child in a sexual performance.

The detective said such decisions are rendered on a singular basis and the law.

"Each case needs to be looked at individually and it's totally (up to) the police department, the district attorney's office and the courts," Condidorio said.

It is the "looking at the totality of the case" that explains, Condidorio said, why Smith's case wasn't referred to federal authorities, and why supervision by Genesee Justice while the charges are pending fits the circumstances.

Smith, however, may yet face statutory rape charges once State Police detectives complete their own investigation.

The video, or videos, allegedly involving a minor from Le Roy, were not made in the Village of Le Roy. Condidorio jurisdiction is confined to the village.

Meanwhile, a person who has identified herself as Smith's girlfriend, who is also the minor child who may have been involved in the videos, has left comments on Facebook and sent an e-mail to The Batavian defending Smith.

The girl said Smith is embarrassed by the charges and upset by reading accounts of the case in the media.

She said she's known Smith since 2006 and they've been involved in a relationship since Aug. 24, 2008. She said he is the father of her 8-month-old child.

"I'm writing because I am concerned with what was stated in the posts about Stephen's charges," the girl wrote. "I fully understand that what I have to say most likely won't matter to anyone because people will judge him because of this no matter what is said or isn't said. That is fine, because anyone that KNOWS him on a personal level, knows that he is not some sick predator."

The girl writes that Smith used a camera that had been given to her as a present and indicates that making the video or videos was her idea.

She said she left the camera at Smith's residence unintentionally and it was seized when detectives searched the place.

"I had Stephen call the day after they confiscated our things and informed them that there was going to be inappropriate content on my camera," she wrote.

Condidorio said he couldn't discuss the content of the girl's Facebook post or even confirm that the victim was female.

He said he was prohibited from discussing the case in detail and could only talk in general terms about how similar cases are handled.

"It is our policy in the police department to try and protect victims of any crime as much as possible," Condidorio said. "But it is still a free country and it is not our policy to try and control the actions of victims."

Even though the girl sees herself as somebody who is in a relationship with the accused, at 16 or 17, under New York state law, she is not old enough to consent to sexual relations.

Besides the alleged video involving the girl, Smith is also accused of using a video file sharing service to pass along and download videos involving other minor children engaged in sexual activity.

The type of service Smith is accused of using is called peer-to-peer, which means users install software that allows them to share the contents of specific folders on their own hard drives.

The case was brought to the attention of Le Roy Police when New York State Police Computers Crime Unit notified the Le Roy Police Department that a person at 41 Elm St. in Le Roy allegedly possessed, and was sharing sexual videos of, underage children via the Internet.

Condidorio stressed that there is no evidence that Smith shared video involving the alleged local victim in this case.

The girl said she and Smith were upset when the case was first reportedly publicly.

"It sincerely made me nauseous and shaky when I first read this article on Wednesday night -- to know that the reputation of someone you love has been destroyed for something blown so far out of proportion," the girl wrote.

"And to know that he would be viewed in a disgusting way by the public. The look on Stephen's face when he read this article was unexplainable. I have never felt how I have these past few days."

An 18-year-old Batavia man accused of engaging in sexual activity with a child under 11 years old is less than four months removed from being released from custody on similar charges.

Ronald Smith, of 679 E. Main St., Batavia, was let out of state prison in October as a Level 3 sex offender.

Smith was previously convicted of engaging in sexual activity with girls ages 8 and 9. He was a Genesee County resident at the time of his arrest. He was convicted in March 2008 and sentenced to one to three years in prison.

Upon his release in October, Smith moved to an apartment on Thorpe Street and registered his address with authorities.

In November, Batavia Police sent a notice to residents in the area around Thorpe that a Level 3 sex offender was in their midst.

The address listed was a residence managed by Jeremy Yasses of J.P. Properties. Yasses said residents contacted him immediately about Smith living in one of his dwellings.

He had no idea Smith had moved in with a friend who was a tenant of an apartment.

The day after being notified, Yasses, who manages several properties on Thorpe, demanded that Smith vacate the residence. When he followed up with police, Yasses said he was told that Smith had moved to Oakfield.

"I don't want to live next to them and I don't expect my tenants to live next to them," Yasses said of Level 3 sex offenders. "I wouldn't ask my tenants to live next to anybody I wouldn't live next to myself."

At the time of his arrest today, Smith was, according to police, located at a residence at 679 E. Main St. in Batavia. He was also charged with failure to register his current address, as required by a registered sex offender.

Det. Kevin Czora said the recent allegations that Smith engaged in sexual conduct with a child under 11 were brought to police attention by a parent of the victim.

Smith was jailed on $25,000 bail.

(Initial Post)

A Level 3 sex offender has been arrested and accused of having sexual contact with a child under 11 in the City of Batavia on more than one occasion over a period of several months.

Ronald Smith, of 679 E. Main St., Batavia, is facing three charges of sexual abuse, 1st, and failure to report address change.

About a month ago, residents around Thorpe Street were notified by Batavia Police that Smith moved into an address at that location. He apparently did not stay long there.

Smith was jailed on $25,000 bail.

A Vine Street resident is accused of defrauding an elderly woman of more than $58,000 from September 2009 to October 2010.

The case came to the attention of authorities after local bank employees became suspicious of $5,500 in checks the suspect was trying to cash.

Charged grand larceny, 2nd, is Myron W. Hartford, 41, of 154 Vine St., Batavia.

Hartford was jailed on $50,000 bail.

Adam Richard Kopp, 20, of Bushhill Road, Farmersville, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and petit larceny. Kopp is of stealing and then possessing a quantity of Lortab tablets. Kopp was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Dana Douglas Hagen, 31, of Batavia-Byron Townline Road, Byron, is charged with DWI, moving from lane unsafely and no seat belt. Hagen was allegedly involved in a personal injury accident at 11:08 p.m., Wednesday, in the area of 7812 Fotch Road, Stafford. Hagen's car reportedly struck a utility pole at that location.

Penny S. Hofert, 45, of 11 Porter Ave., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Hofert is accused of shoplifting from Dollar General.

A Le Roy man is facing three felony charges after he allegedly lured a young acquaintance into performing sexual acts in front of a camera and then sharing those videos online. CORRECTION: Det. John Condidorio sent a note this morning saying there is no evidence that the video the suspect made was shared online.

He's also accused of downloading and sharing other sexual content involving other children through a file sharing service.

Stephen M. Smith, 21, of 41 Elm St., Le Roy, is charged with possessing a sexual performance by a child, promoting sexual performance of a child and use of a child in a sexual performance.

Smith allegedly lured a person under age 17, whom Det. John Condidorio describes as "an acquaintance" of Smith's who also lives in Le Roy, into performing a sexual act and then making the video available on the Internet through a file sharing service.

File sharing services allow person share music, video and pictures directly from his own hard drive with other people on the Internet using the same software.

Quite often such services are used to share pirated music and movies among users.

The first charge accuses Smith of possessing sexual material involving children under 16, the second accuses him of allowing such material to be shared online and the third involves luring the Le Roy minor into a sexual performance.

Condidorio said he doesn't believe any other local minors were involved in making videos with Smith.

Smith was arraigned by Justice Kermit Arrington of the Le Roy Town Court and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

No federal charges are pending and Condidorio said Smith has been cooperative throughout the investigation.

The investigation began in March when the New York State Police Computers Crime Unit notified the Le Roy Police Department that a person at 41 Elm St. in Le Roy allegedly possessed and was sharing sexual videos of underage children via the Internet.

A joint investigation was initiated and in July of 2010, the Le Roy Police executed a search warrant at the residence and secured computers and video cameras. These were later examined at the Western Regional Computer Forensics Lab in Buffalo and allegedly possessed sexual videos of underage children.

Mickey Harlan DeJesus, 22, of Perry Road, Pavilion, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. DeJesus is accused of contacting a female he was ordered not to contact. The protection order was issued by Town of Le Roy Court. DeJesus was jailed on $500 bail.

Brian Richard Gombos, 21, of Britt Road, Le Roy, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, speed not reasonable and moving from lane unsafely. Gombos was arrested following a traffic accident at 2:39 a.m. today in the area of 7104 Quinlan Road, Le Roy. Gombos's car reportedly struck a utility pole. There were no injuries in the accident.

Jeffrey Allan Mooney, 57, of Quaker Road, Albion, is charged with driving with ability impaired by drugs, no license plate lamp, insufficient tail lamps and leaving scene of a property damage accident. Mooney is accused of driving a car that struck gas pumps at Yellow Goose in Elba and then leaving the scene at 4:41 p.m., Jan. 6. Following a tip from a witness, Mooney's car was spotted on Route 98 in the Town of Batavia by Deputy Cory Mower.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating two church burglaries in Bergen in which nothing was apparently stolen, but a good deal of damage was done to each building.

The burglaries may be tied to similar break-ins in Monroe County, according to Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster, and investigators will be meeting with Monroe County officials to discuss the cases.

The churches broken into were the First Presbyterian Church of Bergen, 35 S. Lake Road, and the Bergen United Methodist Church, 27 Lake Ave.

At the first address, one or more people forced open a rear basement window to gain entry to the church. Once inside, the suspect(s) went through several rooms and offices.  In some cases, forced entry was used to get access to rooms and desks. It does not appear anything was taken.

At the second address, forced entry was made through the church's back doors, with more force being used to get into other offices and the pastor's office.

The redacted police report does not list what may have been stolen at the Methodist church, but since the suspect(s) face a possible petit larceny charge, something must have been taken.

The reports list $800 in property losses at the Presbyterian church and $500 at the Methodist church.

The suspect(s), if caught, face two counts of burglary, 3rd, criminal mischief, 4th, along with one count of petit larceny.

Jolene J. Goodell is indicted on a charge of forgery, 2nd. She is accused of altering a prescription for Vicodin in the Town of Le Roy on Sept. 18.

Ryan J. Pittinaro is indicted on three charges relating to an incident in the Town of Alexander on Aug. 14. The first is a misdemeanor charge of DWI. He is accused of driving his 2001 Acura while intoxicated. The second charge is a misdemeanor for having a BAC of .08 or greater. The third charge is aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree.

Patricia Hardesty is indicted on three assault charges relating to a shooting incident in the Town of Darien on Aug. 1. The first is assault in the first degree for allegedly shooting Robert Hardesty Jr. in the leg with a .22 rifle. She is also indicted on two charges of assault in the second degree for allegedly "recklessly causing serious physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument" and intending to do so.

Cortney L. Richardson, 28, of 77 Walden Creek Drive, Batavia, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, speed not reasonable and failure to keep right. Richardson was charged following a one-car, non-injury accident on Bank Street, Batavia, at 2:40 a.m., Friday. Richardson's car reportedly hit a fire hydrant on Bank Street after he allegedly failed to negotiate a turn at Denio Street. Bail was set at $7,500.

Mark Wilhem Hanel, 39, of Swamp Road, Bergen, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. Hanel is accused of being in the house of a person he was barred by court order from contacting. Upon his arrest, Hanel was searched and allegedly found in possession of a controlled substance. Bail was set at $2,500.

John M. Taggert, 28, of 16 North Lyons St., Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and operating with insufficient headlights. Taggert was stopped on Main Street, Village of Le Roy, at 12:30 a.m., Saturday, by Le Roy Police.

John R. Sherman, 33, of Lima, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and following too closely. Sherman was stopped at 10:20 p.m., Friday, on Route 5 in Stafford by State Police.

Richard Wolfe, 33, of 36 Garibaldi Ave., Oakfield, is charged with public lewdness. Wolfe is accused of exposing his genitals to a female employee of a West Main Street coffee shop in Batavia while he was sitting in his car at the drive-thru window.

Nathan D. Stephens, 43, of 6258 North Lake Road, Bergen, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, unlicensed operation and speeding. Stephens was stopped by Deputy Colin Reagan of the Wyoming Sheriff's Office at 6:22 a.m., Thursday, on South Main Street in the Village of Warsaw.

Justin William Bird, 22, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, unlawful possession of marijuana, inadequate headlights and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. Bird is accused of being involved in a property damage accident at 2:26 a.m. in the area of 43 S. Main St., Elba. Allegedly, Bird left the scene without proper notifications and was later located driving in the Village of Elba.

If you live Le Roy and items went missing from your car or garage the night of Dec. 12, the Le Roy Police may have recovered your missing items.

The police are asking individuals who may have found items missing to come forward and identify the property.

Officers believe the items were stolen by three individuals first observed running from Officer R. Tygart in backyards along Summit Street and Hilltop Drive.

Officers followed the footprints in the snow from Hilltop Drive to Washington Street, Union Street and Crossing Route 19 and then down Munson Street.

The three suspects were eventually located on Gilbert Street and taken into custody. They reportedly admitted to stealing items from cars along the way.

The property recovered: numerous $1 bills, coins, a Sansa MP3 player, an unopened pack of Seneca brand cigarettes, three lighters, two flashlights, some eyehooks, one opened pack of Market menthol cigarettes and one knife.

Also found in the area and believed stolen was one gray plastic tote bin (pictured) consisting of Arizona ice tea, 24 oz. bottles of Dr. Pepper, packs of Orbit Mist gum, Wrigley’s gum and lollipops.

The Le Roy Police are attempting to locate the owners of this property. If your vehicle or garage/residence was entered during this time frame and/or property was found missing, please contact the Le Roy police as soon as possible at 768-2527.

A man exposed himself, sometime within the last hour, to the worker inside the Hot Shots coffee drive-thru on East Main Street in Batavia, according to police.

They are looking for him now. He is described as a white male, wearing a hoodie with a Yankees baseball cap. He is driving a 1999 Ford Contour. It is a four-door sedan, color is maroon/burgundy.

His address is listed as a P.O. Box in Batavia.

Nicholas Adkins, 20, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with burglary, 2nd. Adkins allegedly forcibly entered a house on Swamp Road, Town of Byron, and stole money. Adkins was jailed on $5,000 bail.

A 17-year-old resident of Transit Road, Elba, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The youth is accused of becoming physically abusive toward a 14-year-old boy while the boy was in the area of 430 E. Main St., Batavia. The Elba youth may be eligible for youthful offender status.

David Paul Bartholf, 19, Kelsey Road, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Bartholf was reportedly a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Deputy Patrick Reeves at 4:58 p.m., Nov. 11.  Bartholf was allegedly found in possession of a marijuana pipe.

Gregory Seppe, 52, no permanant address, is charged with petit larceny. Seppe is accused of shoplifting from Dollar General at 8:08 p.m., Wednesday. Seppe was jailed on $750 bail. (For previous reports on Seppe, click here.)

Donna M. Croft, 57, of 56 Buell St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Croft is accused of trying to hide several items of merchandise from Dollar General  in her purse. The alleged crime was reported at 9:54 p.m., Wednesday.

A Batavia man who admitted in federal court to storing and receiving sexually explicit images and video involving children is being sent to prison for five years.

Samuel W. Nigro, 33, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Nigro was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution to two victims and will be on supervised release for five years after his prison term is completed.

In December 2009, the Nigro's computer was seized during the execution of a search warrant at his residence. A forensic analysis revealed a total of 5,239 images and 113 videos of child pornography stored on the computer.

UPDATE: The original press release on this said Brett M. Blair would be in court on March 11 for "sentencing." But the release didn't include any information indicating that he had entered a guilty plea to any charges. After the initial post, I spoke with Sgt. Steve Mullen of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office and Blair and his attorney were in negotiations on a plea arrangement -- with Blair agreeing to detail his criminal activitiy -- prior to his arrest on Tuesday. So, the March 11 appearance will be for sentencing. His sentence on all charges will run concurrently. Further details on the plea arrangement are not available at this time.

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A 27-year-old Bergen man has been charged with multiple felonies following an investigation by local and state law enforcement agencies into a series of crimes.

Taken into custody Tuesday was Brett M. Blair.

Blair is charged with:

• Burglary, 2nd. Blair is accused of breaking into a Route 33, Town of Batavia, home Oct. 15 and stealing cash and jewelry. He was arrested on this charge by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office.
• Burglary, 2nd. Blair is accused of breaking into a home on North Street, City of Batavia, on Oct. 22, and stealing electronic equipment. Batavia PD arrested Blair on this charge.
• Grand larceny, 4th. Blair is accused of reporting a burglary to his residence on March 3 claiming that $2,475 in electronics and cash were stolen. Police say he had actually stole the items himself and filed a false report. Batavia Police made the arrest on this charge. (UPDATE: Blair was a resident of the city, on Lyons Street, at the time of this offense.)
• Criminal mischief, 3rd. Blair is accused of breaking a window of an East Main Street business on Oct. 4. Batavia PD made the arrest.
• Identify theft, 1st, and forgery, 2nd. Blair is accused of using a credit card stolen from his employer and using it at Kmart. The alleged crimes occurred between August and September. Blair is also charged with petit larceny. State Police arrested Blair on this charge.

A Sheriff's Office press release says that the three law enforcement agencies involved pooled their resources to help identify Blair as the suspect and make the arrests.

Blair was already in custody for unspecified reasons at the Monroe County Jail. 

After being taken into custody, Blair was arraigned in the town and city courts of Batavia and then brought before Judge Robert Noonan in Genesee County Court. He was returned to Monroe County Jail and is scheduled to reappear in county court at 1:30 p.m., March 10.

Adam M. Kreutz, 22, of Fisher Road, Oakfield, is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, and criminal mischief, 4th. At 4:40 a.m.,Tuesday, while in the Village of Oakfield, Kreutz allegedly drowned a family cat. He was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Jeffery Leonard Wheeler, 18, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Wheeler is accused of visiting a residence he is barred from visiting by court order. Wheeler was jailed on $2,000 bail.

A driver whose car hit a tanker truck as it pulled up to a fire hydrant to refill while crews battled a fully involved house fire on Broadway in Darien was charged following the accident with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Wallace Eugene Urf, 33, of Pavilion Center Road, Pavilion, was allegedly found in possession of marijuana by Deputy Lonnie Nati who investigated the accident.

Urf was reportedly uninjured in the accident, which occurred at 2:31 p.m. Urf's car hit Attica Engine 7 while the tanker was refilling to help fight a fire at 1081 Broadway Road.

After the accident, a firefighter was heard on the scanner to say Urf's car "blew through the intersection at Harlow Road" and struck the rear of the truck.

The Sheriff's Office press release listed no other charges.

The Sheriff's Office released three photos purporting to show the suspect from yesterday's bank robbery in Corfu. The office says, "Anyone with information please call the Genesee County Sheriff's Office at 585-343-5000. Additional photographs and information will be released as it becomes available."

There's no information tying a bank robbery in Corfu yesterday to recent bank robberies in the Buffalo area, according to Undersheriff Bill Sharon.

Although Associated Press is reporting that authorities say the Corfu heist may be connected to two robberies in Amherst and two more in Buffalo, Sheron said no evidence has been found so far tying the robberies together.

"They don't appear to be related," Sheron said. "For one thing, the descriptions of the suspects are different. Of course, we're working with federal agencies to see if there is a linkage to any other robberies, either in the region or the state or nationally."

Investigators are back in Corfu today trying to gather more evidence and talk to more witnesses.

Sheron said witnesses to the 2 p.m. robbery on Monday could still play a key part in breaking this case.

"We're fairly certain that he (the suspect) was in the village from about noon until the time of the robbery," Sheron said. "We're looking for any citizens who might have seen him or noticed his activities."

There were pictures, apparently, of the suspect taken in the bank and the Sheriff's Office is working with the FBI to enhance the images and release them to the media. 

Other businesses in the area also had external security cameras that may provide additional leads.

Yesterday's investigation centered on boot prints in the snow that were found in a walkway between the bank and an apartment building. They led to a parking area behind Dadio's and seemed to have stopped there. A police dog was brought in to track the suspect, but that trail seemed to lead no further than the parking area.

While initial reports may have placed the suspect in a silver sedan, there's no solid evidence, according to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble, to say for sure that was a vehicle used by the suspect.

"What we have on the cameras will hopefully help out, but no one saw him get into a car or anything like that," Dibble said.

The suspect is described as a white male, just under 6 feet tall, average build, with possibly brown hair. He was wearing a yellow, work-type boot, maybe, and jeans. He also had on a gray hoodie that he pulled over his head and a black, ski-type mask covering the lower part of his face.

People with any possible information should contact the Sheriff's Office at 345-3000.