A Montauk man was sentenced to six months of jail time and 10 years of probation on Friday after pleading guilty to six felony counts related to child sex charges.
Paul Apostolides, an owner of in Montauk, was arrested in November of 2011, and after posting $150,000 bond, pleaded guilty to the six charges on April 12 of this year. He has been in custody since.
On Friday morning Assistant District Attorney John Cortes read a statement from the victim's father - who was not present - at Friday's proceedings, in which he called the sentence a "slap on the wrist."
Apostolides' daughter, and other family members present, maintained his innocence, saying he was "forced into the plea" and high legal defense costs proved too much to bring the case to trial.
Considering a "lot of factors," without going into more detail, Apostolides' attorney, Brian DeSesa, called the disposition "fair."
"Anytime you enter into a plea, there is a lot to consider," he said.
According to a statement from Bob Clifford, spokesman for District Attorney Thomas Spota, "This disposition was reached in order to spare the victim from the trauma of testifying in open court."
Apoltolides pleaded guilty before Justice Barbara Kahn to five counts of possession of sexual performance by a child and one count of promoting a sexual performance by a child less than 17. He has been registered as a sex offender since his guilty plea and a court hearing on June 15 is expected to determine the risk level he is given.
An eight-year order of protection between Apostolides and the victim - and any third party - was also levied.
Neither Apostolides nor DeSesa offered a statement. DeSesa said he had advised his client to withhold a statement, though he said he would offer one at a later court date.
In a previous interview, DeSesa said that the charges came about "based on Paul's ignorance of the computer."
"There was no evidence of any [physical] contact or inappropriate behavior with children," DeSesa said in April. "Compliments to the DA, who saw that."
