New York (CNN) -- An activist for immigration reform was
arrested and arraigned on child pornography charges in Brooklyn federal court
Wednesday.
Roy Naim, 29, pleaded not guilty
to a count of receiving child pornography, and was denied bail by Judge Joan M.
Azrack.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha
Komatireddy argued Naim was a risk to the community as his alleged crimes
involved children, and he sometimes worked with a youth advocacy group and
volunteered at a camp for children. She added he was a flight risk as he has no
real job and isn't a citizen of the country.
Naim's attorney, Richard A
Finkel, countered that his client was a respected member of his community, and
told the court how Naim, who was mentioned in a 2012 Time magazine article on
immigration reform, volunteered for many charities and had become a relatively
well-known activist on immigration.
Finkel continued to explain that
Naim did not work because he spent most of his time "helping others"
and studying with rabbis.
His family works hard, Finkel
said, but they have little money and own no property.
Judge Azrack did not say she
would deny Naim bail outright, but said without money or property to offer as
collateral, Naim would be kept in custody for now.
Finkel told reporters as he left
the courthouse that he had just been put on the case and "I don't know
much about it ... They're just charges and we will contest the charges, and
that's all I can say."
Prosecutor Komatireddy declined
comment on the case.
Naim moved with his family from
Israel when he was 3 years old, but has not attained U.S. citizenship.
Naim was mentioned in a cover
story for Time magazine in June 2012 by journalist and filmmaker, Jose Antonio
Vargas, who publicly revealed his own status as an undocumented immigrant and
gaining support among so-called DREAMers -- advocates for a path to citizenship
for young undocumented immigrants.
In a story on his life that he
wrote for the website Empathizethis.com, Naim said, "I read this article
about Jose Antonio Vargas, who outed himself as an undocumented person. I
remember reading that article, and it gave me a lot of hope. I started
connecting with Jose, and I ended up (in) Time magazine with him."
Naim continued in the online
biography, "If you ask me what I want to do, I would say that I want to
serve people. Volunteer work is what I live for."
In June, the New York Daily News
ran an article about Naim's work with a children's advocacy group on a game for
children based on the immigrant experience.
According to the federal
indictment of Naim, investigators in Louisiana arrested a suspected producer of
child pornography who allegedly had enticed children to engage in sexually
explicit conduct on the internet via videoconferencing. The suspect allegedly
recorded the acts, and sent the videos to people over the web and through
e-mail.
Following an electronic trail,
investigators were led to a computer at Naim's home according to the
indictment.
Federal agents executed a search
warrant, the indictment says, and told Naim he was not under arrest, but asked
him if there was any information he wanted to share voluntarily.
According to the indictment, Naim
led the agents to his computer and told them he had been viewing and
downloading videos of child pornography for several years, and his a laptop
contained videos of child pornography. He was then arrested.
If convicted, Naim faces five to
20 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
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