A 38-year-old Hicksville man already listed on New York's sex offender registry is now facing felony child pornography charges after detectives say a routine compliance check on his phone turned up numerous illegal files. Borys Barrera-Callejas, who lived on West Nicholai Street in Hicksville at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody following an investigation into an incident on September 3, according to police.
The case began as a check on whether Barrera-Callejas had properly reported his social media accounts, a requirement for registered sex offenders in New York. According to Daily Voice, police originally confronted Barrera-Callejas that day specifically because he had failed to register new social media accounts, and it was only during that compliance investigation that detectives discovered child pornography files on his phone. Detectives allege the device contained numerous files depicting child sexual abuse material, according to a report from the Bethpage Newsgram.
Barrera-Callejas was ultimately charged with three counts of possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child less than 16 years old, along with two counts of sex offender failure to report a change in status, per the Bethpage Newsgram's account of the police charges. Under New York Penal Law § 263.16, possessing a sexual performance by a child under 16 is classified as a Class E felony, according to The New York State Senate. A Class E felony conviction for that offense carries a maximum sentence of 1⅓ to 4 years in state prison for a first-time, non-violent felony offender, per Stengel Law.
How the Failure-to-Report Charges Fit In
The separate failure-to-report counts stem from New York's e-STOP Act, which is built into Correction Law § 168-f and requires all registered sex offenders to disclose their internet accounts and online identifiers to state authorities, the state senate notes. Under Correction Law § 168-t, a registered sex offender who fails to report required status changes, including unreported internet identifiers, faces separate felony charges, according to the New York Unified Court System. That statute is what turned an unreported social media account into its own criminal count alongside the pornography charges.
Nassau County's registered sex offenders are also subject to routine monitoring that varies by risk level. Level 3 offenders and designated sexual predators must personally verify their addresses with local police every 90 days, while Level 1 and Level 2 offenders only need to update their photographs every three years, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Arraignment and Next Court Date
Barrera-Callejas was arraigned September 4 in First District Court in Hempstead. Newsday reported that he pleaded not guilty before Judge Michael Alpert, is represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, and has been assigned an October 8 court date. He has entered a plea of not guilty while represented by public defense counsel, and no further details on his legal strategy have been made public.
The Nassau County Police Department Special Victims Squad is asking anyone who may have been victimized by Barrera-Callejas, or who has relevant information, to come forward. Detectives can be reached through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS or directly at the Special Victims Squad's line, 516-573-4022, with callers assured they can remain anonymous.
Part of a Broader Registry
As of August, New York State's registry included roughly 28,300 sex offender records statewide, a rate of about 1.4 registrants per 1,000 residents, according to Offendersearch. The Barrera-Callejas case illustrates how that registry's physical reporting requirements now intersect with digital monitoring rules meant to track offenders' online activity. It comes roughly a month after Hoodline covered a Baldwin daycare worker's arraignment on separate felony child sexual abuse charges in the same Hempstead courthouse, underscoring how frequently Nassau County's court system is handling cases involving alleged crimes against children.
