A New York Police Department officer assigned to Brooklyn's 72nd Precinct was arraigned Wednesday on charges that he tried to convince someone he believed was a 16-year-old girl to strip naked during a video call. Christopher Torres Garcia, 36, was arrested in the Bronx earlier that day and released without bail following his appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
The case stems from an undercover sting run by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau, which targeted Torres Garcia as part of an ongoing investigation, according to New York Daily News. Prosecutors said Torres Garcia was introduced on August 5 to an undercover officer posing as a 16-year-old girl, and the two exchanged phone numbers that same day. Nearly two weeks later, on August 18, he asked the undercover officer multiple times to show her nude body during a video call, per the criminal complaint cited by the outlet — even after she told him she was in the shower.
Charges Filed and Court Appearance
Torres Garcia was charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, attempted child endangerment, and official misconduct, prosecutors said. He has a return court date of December 1, 2026. His defense attorney, Daniel Servino, declined to comment on the allegations, the paper's report notes.
Torres Garcia has served with the NYPD for four years and is assigned to the 72nd Precinct, which covers Sunset Park, Greenwood Heights, South Slope, and Windsor Terrace out of its headquarters at 830 4th Avenue, according to Hoodline's earlier coverage of the precinct's jurisdiction. Public records from the 50-a.org NYPD misconduct database show Torres Garcia, appointed in October 2022, had received two prior misconduct complaints encompassing three unproven allegations before this year.
Why He Walked Out Without Bail
The attempted dissemination charge falls under New York Penal Law § 235.22, which classifies dissemination of indecent material to a minor as a Class E felony carrying up to four years in prison — though attempted offenses, as charged here, carry reduced exposure under Penal Law § 110.00, per the Law Offices of Mayo Bartlett, PLLC. A full conviction on that statute would also trigger mandatory registration under the New York State Sex Offender Registration Act, the firm notes.
The official misconduct charge is a Class A misdemeanor under Penal Law § 195.00, punishable by up to a year in jail, occurring when a public servant knowingly commits an unauthorized act or skips an official duty for personal benefit, according to Saland Law. Child endangerment under Penal Law § 260.10 is likewise a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to a year in jail or three years of probation for conduct likely to harm a minor's welfare, per The Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo, PLLC. Because these are non-violent Class E felony and misdemeanor charges, they are non-qualifying offenses for monetary bail under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 510.10, which explains why the judge released Torres Garcia on his own recognizance despite the nature of the allegations, as detailed by FindLaw.
Internal Affairs Integrity Tests and Local Oversight
The sting reflects a standard tool in the NYPD's arsenal — the Internal Affairs Bureau routinely runs targeted integrity tests using covert surveillance and decoy scenarios to monitor officers suspected of illegal or departmental misconduct, according to nyc.gov records on the program. The Kings County District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case, operates a dedicated Law Enforcement Accountability Bureau established in 2018 specifically to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by active officers in Brooklyn. That same office separately indicted a former police detective in August on charges of on-duty assault and official misconduct inside a Brooklyn precinct.
It remains unclear whether the NYPD has formally suspended or modified Torres Garcia's duty status, and whether the Brooklyn DA's Law Enforcement Accountability Bureau will present the case to a grand jury for additional felony charges before his December court date. The case echoes another one Hoodline covered earlier this year, in which a Bronx driver accused an NYPD officer of sexual abuse and misconduct.
