A Queens man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to having child pornography on his laptop, authorities said, which was found when he dropped it off to get repaired.
Michael Murray, 63, of East Elmhurst, first dropped off his computer at a Best Buy in Long Island City on March 26, 2014, according to the Queens district attorney’s office.
But six days later a technician booted up the computer, and noticed the lurid screen saver: a slideshow of young girls posing provocatively and some engaged in sexual acts with men much older than them.
The technician told his supervisor, who called police, according to the DA’s office.
Murray later admitted to exchanging files of child pornography on the Internet for about five years. Nearly 400 images of children porn were found on his computer.
“The defendant has now admitted to having vile, disturbing images of children on his computer’s hard drive, which he even used as a screen saver slideshow,” District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. “It is important for the public to remember that these photographs depict real children who have been sexually abused. They are youngsters who will forever be emotionally and physically scarred by what happened to them.”
Murray pleaded guilty to promoting a sexual performance by a child. The judge, Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter, said he planned to sentence Murray to one to three years in prison at his sentencing on March 22, according tot he DA’s office.
An attorney for Murray did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
