PLATTSBURGH — A West Chazy man has admitted possessing child porn and engaging in explicit online conversations with what he thought were young teens.
Dirk Zwart was arrested in August following a lengthy interstate investigation that found the 59-year-old had been having lewd conversations with children in online chatrooms.
The probe began in Pennsylvania and ended in New York, where Zwart began chatting with what he believed were two 13-year-old children; they were really undercover investigators.
After executing a search warrant, authorities found a number of sexual images involving children on Zwart’s laptop computer.
He was charged with possessing a sexual performance of a child, attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor and attempted endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said the dissemination charge was lodged because Zwart allegedly sent inappropriate images to the undercover officers.
The local father recently returned to Clinton County Court and pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted first-degree disseminating indecent material to minors, five counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and five counts of possessing sexual performance by a child.
Judge Patrick McGill sentenced Zwart to a total of five to 15 years in prison. Zwart must also register as a sex offender and pay court expenses.
Officials from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Pennsylvania and New York Attorney General’s Offices, State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Plattsburgh and the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit were all involved in the case.
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at:
avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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