N. Merrick man charged with Internet sex acts involving minors

A North Merrick man has been arrested and charged with performing lewd sexual acts allegedly seen via the Internet by children as young as 5 years old.

According to Nassau County Police, the man lives on Old Mill Road, across the street from Old Mill Road Elementary School.

Police detectives with the Major Case Bureau charged Nicholas Caruso, 21, with disseminating indecent material to minors between Oct. 1, 2013 and Dec. 1, 2013. His alleged online activity was first reported to authorities in November last year.

Detectives said that Caruso posed as a 15-year-old to communicate via the Internet with an 11-year-old girl from Arizona. An investigation revealed that Caruso allegedly filmed himself with a webcam performing sexual acts while children, ages 5 to 11, watched by video chat.

Major case detectives and agents with the FBI’s Long Island Child Exploitation Task Force arrested Caruso at his home on April 29. He was charged with five counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor in the first degree and three counts of possession of sexual performance by a child.

He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on April 30 and released on $25,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, according to a spokesman for Nassau Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas. His New York City-based attorney, Daniel Ollen, had no comment.