Jun. 23, 2023 By Bill Parry
A former FBI agent and current real estate attorney practicing in Forest Hills was criminally charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child for allegedly sending child sexual abuse materials from a computer in his Forest Hills home, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
John Magri, 57, of Dartmouth Street, was arraigned June 22 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Quynda Santacroce on an 18-count complaint charging him with six counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony; six counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child; and six counts of obscenity in the third degree.
According to the charges, Magri’s alleged activities were discovered during an investigation into the sharing of child sexual abuse materials online. The investigation turned up more than 700 files from an IP address tied to Magri, prosecutors said. The files included videos with children approximately 6 years old and younger. One video showed an infant.
Investigators secured a search warrant for Magri’s residence, which was executed by the NYPD on June 21. Magri was taken into custody after the search.
Two laptops – including one under Magri’s bed – a hard drive and a cell phone were recovered from the primary bedroom. Investigators also recovered a desktop computer, modem and five flash drives from a home office, a desktop computer from a living room and a laptop from under a bed in a secondary bedroom.
A forensic review of the laptop found under Magri’s bed revealed numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse materials, including several involving infants, according to prosecutors.
“The horrific allegations against the defendant are all the more disturbing given that he was someone who had sworn to uphold the law,” Katz said. “The exploitation of children simply will not be tolerated. Thank you to our law enforcement partners for their work on this investigation.”
Judge Santacroce set the defendant’s return date for Aug. 14. If convicted, Magri could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.