East Northport Man Pleads Guilty To Sexually Abusing Toddler, Creating Child Porn: DA

EAST NORTHPORT, NY — An East Northport man pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 3-year-old child while videotaping the abuse and sharing the video, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Tuesday.

Dakota Rose, 25, was charged with use of a child in a sexual performance and first-degree sexual abuse.

"This defendant sexually exploited a young child and thought he could get away with it," Tierney said in a news release. "Thanks to the tipster who reported this vile criminal activity to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), this defendant will be held responsible for his crimes and a young victim will be spared from having to testify at trial."

On Feb. 17, the Suffolk County Police Department Digital Forensics Unit received a tip from the NCMEC that that child sexual abuse material was disseminated via social media from a home in East Northport, according to court documents.

Investigators said they executed a search warrant at Rose's home on March 12 and seized numerous electronic devices. They identified both Rose and the toddler from the disseminated video on one of the seized electronic devices, prosecutors said.

Two additional videos of child pornography were found on Rose’s phone, and Rose exchanged all three videos with other people through both social media and text messages, authorities said. On at least one occasion, Rose sent a video in exchange for money, officials said.

Rose pleaded guilty on Monday. He is due back in court on Nov. 14 and is being represented by Scott Zerner. Zerner said "no comment" on the case.

Rose is expected to receive a sentence of 7 to 15 years in prison with 10 years of post-release
supervision.