Suffolk corrections officer from Ridge arrested on child sexual abuse charges

A 42-year-old Ridge corrections officer with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Wednesday after investigators said a search of his iPhone uncovered videos depicting child sexual abuse and tied purchases of the material to his home address.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said Robert Sorrentino was charged with seven counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, all Class E felonies. Prosecutors said the case was not bail eligible under current New York law, and Sorrentino faces 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted.

The district attorney’s office said Sorrentino was arrested on April 16, 2026, and was scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk County First District Court, courtroom D11. He is represented by Michael Brown, Esq.

The allegations carry added weight because Sorrentino worked inside the county’s corrections system while also serving as an active member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves and as a volunteer firefighter with the Ridge Volunteer Fire Department. That combination of posts placed him in positions that depend on public trust across more than one institution.

According to the district attorney’s office, a joint investigation linked purchases of child sexual abuse material to Sorrentino’s home address in Ridge. Investigators then executed a search warrant on his iPhone and allegedly found numerous videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. News 12 reported that Tierney said the material involved children between the ages of 5 and 13.

The charge Sorrentino faces is defined under New York law as knowingly possessing or knowingly accessing with intent to view a performance that includes sexual conduct by a child younger than 16. The law also covers performances created or altered by digitization, a detail that reflects how modern child sexual abuse material cases are increasingly driven by digital evidence.

For Suffolk County, the arrest is likely to sharpen scrutiny of how the Sheriff’s Office screens, monitors, and supervises employees who work in corrections, where authority and access are central to the job. It also raises questions about what safeguards were in place to detect misconduct before investigators moved in with digital forensic work and a search warrant.

Tierney also criticized New York’s bail laws in remarks reported by News 12, arguing that legislators and the governor need to understand that only child predators would repeatedly possess child sexual abuse material. Even without a conviction, the case has already placed public integrity, child protection, and institutional oversight at the center of Suffolk County’s criminal justice discussion.