Child Porn Charge in Harbor

By Taylor K. Vecsey

Sag Harbor Police Matthias von Wrede

(03/08/2007)    Suffolk County police said they found an “extensive collection of child pornography” at Matthias von Wrede’s house on Madison Street in Sag Harbor when they arrested him there Monday night.

    The collection contained a picture of a Long Island girl in diapers who had been sexually abused by her father more than five years ago, according to Lt. Peter Cilento, the commanding officer of technical investigations for the county police. He said he would not release the name of the father, who was arrested and prosecuted, in order to protect the child’s identity.

    At about 8 p.m. Monday, the county police’s computer crimes unit executed a search warrant for Mr. von Wrede’s house. They were helped by Sag Harbor Village police. The defendant was home at the time.

    Police sought the search warrant after he allegedly uploaded 15 to 20 images to an online Yahoo group that offers free mailing lists, photography, and file sharing, Lieutenant Cilento said. Yahoo alerted the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, which contacted the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

    A German citizen who came to this country in 2004, Mr. von Wrede, 34, has been charged with one count of possessing a sexual performance by a child, but Lieutenant Cilento said he expects more charges to be added after forensic analysis of a laptop computer and CDs seized from Mr. von Wrede’s house are completed.

    Mr. von Wrede runs the Southampton Village branch of Engel and Volkers, an international real estate agency with more than 160 locations.
    Held at the village police station overnight, Mr. von Wrede was arraigned on Tuesday in Southampton Town Justice Court. He was released on $250,000 bail and is due back in court tomorrow.