Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced that on Wednesday, Dec. 12, Garden City resident Edward Orenchuk III had been arrested and charged with multiple felonies for possessing images of child pornography and making those images available to others via the Internet.
According to DA investigators, the 23-year-old man was arrested that morning and charged with three counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony, and three counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child.
Rice said that during August and September 2012, investigators from the DA’s Office observed Orenchuk making multiple images of child pornography available for download over the Internet. Investigators tracked the source of those images to a Wheeler Avenue residence in Garden City. Orenchuk implicated himself during the execution of a search warrant at this home this morning, indicating that he had hundreds of images on his personal computer,” according to Rice.
Orenchuk is currently employed as a page at the Garden City Public Library. “[Part-time employee Orenchuk] was hired in July 2005 as a page and during his tenure has served the Garden City Public Library without incident,” the library said in a statement. “As a page, his duties were operational and included the shelving, organizing and transporting of books and other library materials, setup and cleaning of activity areas and required minimal contact with patrons.
“He has since been removed from the work schedule and has been banned from the library facility and premises until this matter is resolved,” further adding, “To our knowledge no library computers or equipment were used by Mr. Orenchuk regarding the allegations against him. The Garden City Public Library abides by CIPA (Child Internet Protection Act), uses a filtering software program called Patronus, and prides itself on its strict filtering policy.”
Orenchuk is also an Eagle Scout who serves as an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop #243 in Garden City, according to Rice. The Theodore Roosevelt Council of Boy Scouts was also quick to denounce the alleged crime.
“Along with the rest of the community, we were shocked to learn about the allegations against this individual. The behavior included in these allegations runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands. Although these allegations do not appear to have anything to do with Scouting, upon learning of these allegations we immediately revoked the individual’s membership and removed him from Scouting.” The council also added, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who may be a victim of this type of behavior. The BSA has a comprehensive youth protection program that includes education, chartered organization leader selection procedures, criminal background and other checks, barriers to abuse and prompt mandatory reporting. Because this is an ongoing investigation, please contact local authorities for additional information.
The images contain children as young as 5 years old, according to the DA’s office. “This defendant’s regular contact with children in a position of authority makes these charges that much more disturbing,” Rice said. “My office is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who traffic in this horrific material.”
Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Glicksman of the technology crimes unit is prosecuting the case. Orenchuk was arraigned on Thursday, Dec. 20 in First District Court, Hempstead and was being held on $400,000 bond or $100,000 cash. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
