Bayport man indicted in Suffolk child sexual abuse material case

A Bayport man accused of using Discord and Snapchat to obtain child sexual abuse material was indicted in Suffolk County after a tip moved from a national reporting system to local digital forensics investigators.

Prosecutors said Ryan Yost, 22, was charged with four counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child and seven counts of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child. Suffolk County authorities said the case began in August 2025, when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received information that material had been downloaded through Discord and passed the tip to the Suffolk County Police Department’s Digital Forensics Unit.

Police said detectives executed a search warrant at Yost’s home at 269 East Road in Bayport on Jan. 20, 2026, and recovered a cell phone that allegedly contained images depicting child pornography. Prosecutors said Yost was arrested that day and later arraigned on April 16, 2026, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis.

He was ordered held on $10,000 cash, $20,000 bond, or $100,000 partially secured bond. Yost is represented by Craig Fleisher, Esq., and is due back in court on May 28, 2026.

The charges carry significant penalties under New York law. Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child is a class D felony, while Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child is a class E felony. The state defines the offenses in terms of sexual conduct by a child under 17 for the promoting charge and under 16 for the possession charge. Prosecutors said the top charge could bring up to seven years in prison if Yost is convicted.

The case also highlights how online exploitation investigations now move across platforms and agencies. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says its CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for online child exploitation, and it received 20.5 million reports in 2024, representing 29.2 million separate incidents after bundled reports were adjusted. The organization also said online enticement reports rose sharply in the first half of 2025, underscoring why parents in Bayport and surrounding Suffolk communities are being urged to pay attention to direct messages, disappearing content, and friend requests from unknown accounts.

Discord says it reports illegal child sexual abuse material and grooming to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and permanently bans users who post such content. Snap said it reviews potential child-exploitation reports and, when appropriate, sends them to the same clearinghouse for law-enforcement follow-up. The case shows how a single digital tip can quickly become a Suffolk arrest when investigators connect platform data, a search warrant, and devices seized at home.