Former village official sentenced to 5 years in child pornography case

Eight months after pleading guilty to a child pornography charge, David Corwin was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Friday, Nov. 18.

Mr. Corwin, 74, is a longtime resident of Greenport who served on the village Zoning Board of Appeals at the time of his March 2021 arrest. In March, he admitted to receiving child pornography at a hearing before Judge Joanna Seybert at the Eastern District of New York courthouse in Central Islip.

Judge Seybert sentenced him to five years and ordered Mr. Corwin to pay a $35,000 fine, $17,000 towards the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 fine and $5,000 fine under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. He will also face five years of supervised release, according to court records.

In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Farrell said the Federal Bureau of Investigation retrieved “at least six” computers and electronic devices from Mr. Corwin’s Main Street home that contained more than 1,900 images and 12 videos depicting child pornography during an initial visit on March 18, 2021.

On a laptop, Mr. Corwin opened a “dark web” browser that had live chatting capabilities he referred to as a “pedo chat.” On that same computer, an agent observed three open tabs containing graphic sexual images of young girls believed to be 5 or 6 years old, according to court records.

A second computer contained files of even younger children and an open tab on a third computer showed an open inmate search of a convicted sex offender Mr. Corwin described to agents as “infamous in my world.”

Federal agents returned to the home six days later and seized an additional laptop that Mr. Corwin secured after officials seized the devices on March 18. FBI officials also recovered parts they believe could be used to build a computer and recovered 15 marijuana plants from his basement.

In the sentencing memo, prosecutors emphasized that child pornography crimes “represent the continuing victimization of the children depicted in these images, which are in essence, crime scene images” and creates a market for child abuse.

Mr. Corwin had been facing a minimum of five years and maximum of 20 years. Prosecutors recommended he be sentenced to five, arguing that the term “would be sufficient, but not greater than necessary.”

In his own sentencing memorandum, defense attorney Anthony Grandinette argued that the five-year sentence seemed “lengthy and harsh” due to his client’s age, physical and mental health.

Mr. Grandinette said Mr. Corwin has expressed “sincere remorse,” has accepted responsibility and made “efforts toward repairing over two decades of devastating difficulties spawned by family dysfunction and parental abuse” by his father, described in the memorandum as being an alcoholic who was “extremely abusive” to his family over the course of his lifetime.

“Sadly, the first counseling/treatment David ever received to attempt to work through these psychological/emotional issues occurred after his arrest in this case,” Mr. Grandinette wrote. “Only now has he begun dealing with childhood anxieties, trauma and depression that manifested into a reclusive existence for decades and the sad debacle before us today.”

At a change of plea hearing in March, Mr. Corwin told the judge he “did not recognize the harm” he was “causing others” by viewing the illegal materials in the privacy of his own home and blamed prescription drugs like Valium for lapse in judgment. 

Mr. Corwin, who has remained free on supervised release in Greenport after posting $300,000 bond, was ordered to surrender on May 31, 2023 to begin serving his sentence. The court has recommended to the Federal Bureau of Prisons that he be housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., a low-security prison.

Mr. Corwin was one of two once-prominent local figures arrested for child pornography charges in 2021. Damon Rallis, who was a scoutmaster in Greenport that mounted unsuccessful bids for Southold Town supervisor and town assessor in 2015 and 2017, was arrested and charged with distribution of child pornography in February 2021 and ultimately released on $200,000 bond.

Though he pleaded not guilty to the charges, court documents show Mr. Rallis is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on Dec. 15.