Massage Therapist Accused Of Child Porn Possession

RHINEBECK, NY — A Long Island massage therapist was accused of having child pornography. Gary Pamperien 65, of Hicksville, was arrested Wednesday, according to Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

According to prosecutors, Pamperien purchased access to thousands of files containing child pornography through a fee-based website hosted outside of the United States between August 2017 and December 2018.

The pornography included depictions of nude prepubescent children "posing lasciviously," prosecutors said.

Pamperien made his purchases from an IP address associated with the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, where he lived and worked.

Additionally, on Wednesday, law enforcement officers uncovered at least a dozen images and one video containing child pornography on a laptop belonging to him.

Berman said that child pornography victimizes society’s most innocent and vulnerable.

"Massage therapist Gary Pamperien was arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography," he said. "Sexualizing young children is despicable, and this office and our law enforcement partners will continue to utilize all of the expertise and resources available to bring to justice those who possess child pornography.”

Pamperien is charged with one count of possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison or 20 years in prison if any of the pornography involved a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.

According to Chrissa Santoro, an Omega Institute spokeswoman, Pamperien was a seasonal "piece rate employee" during part of the time frame in the allegation. She said he was not employed at Omega from November 2017 to April 2018 or November to December 2018. Omega is open seasonally from May through October.

Pamperien was a massage therapist at Omega, and his employment ended Oct. 27, Santoro said.

She said that, in response to learning about the accusations, records were reviewed, and per the institute's policy, a multi-state criminal and sex offender search was conducted that revealed "No Record."

"These disturbing allegations are in direct violation of several policies addressing code of conduct," Santoro said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been modified from the original version to include comments from the Omega Institute.

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