A former Lindenhurst school district custodian pleaded guilty this week to filming himself sexually abusing a child and sharing the material with others, according to Suffolk County prosecutors. Brian Woehr, 41, of Lindenhurst, entered his plea on Sept. 25 before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis, admitting to two counts of use of a child in a sexual performance as a sexually motivated felony.
The plea, first detailed by Patch, closes out a case that began in the spring of 2025 with a tip about disturbing images uploaded to a local Google account. The South Shore Press reports that the tip came through the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and was received by the Suffolk County Police Digital Forensics Unit. Woehr was employed sporadically as a substitute custodian for the Lindenhurst school district between 2018 and 2021 and has not worked in the district since, according to Newsday, which reported his age as 40 at the time of his May 2025 indictment, while more recent coverage has listed him as 41.
Search Warrant Led to Cellphone Evidence
Investigators executed a search warrant at Woehr's Lindenhurst home on April 30, 2025, and seized his cellphone, according to the same account. He was arrested at the scene that day. A forensic examination of the phone uncovered videos and images that Woehr had produced and shared, and the South Shore Press reports the material depicted him sexually abusing a prepubescent child. Suffolk County Police Detective Joseph Gonzalez investigated the case, and Assistant District Attorney Melissa Grier prosecuted it for Suffolk County.
The investigation initially resulted in an indictment charging Woehr with more than 100 felony counts alleging he distributed videos and photographs depicting the abuse, Newsday reported at the time. That sprawling indictment has now been resolved through the two-count guilty plea, with the charges against Woehr classified as class C felonies.
Prosecutors Detail Expected Sentence
Woehr is expected to be sentenced to 17 years in state prison, followed by 15 years of post-release supervision, and he was ordered to register as a sex offender, according to the South Shore Press. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney called the admitted conduct “deplorable,” saying, “Children deserve protection and trust from the adults around them, and Brian Woehr violated both in an unconscionable way.”
Tierney has also spoken more broadly about the harm caused when abuse is recorded and circulated. “Each view and share re-victimizes the child,” he told Newsday in connection with the case, underscoring prosecutors' view that distribution compounds the damage of the original abuse.
Broader Pattern of Long Island Abuse Cases
Suffolk County has seen other high-profile child sexual abuse prosecutions in recent months. Newsday has also reported on testimony in the separate sex-abuse trial of Thomas Bernagozzi, a former Bay Shore teacher, though that case is unrelated to Woehr's and remains its own proceeding.
