July 17, 2017 By Jason Cohen
A 42-year-old Jackson Heights man faces up to 3-years in prison after violating an order of protection for contacting a woman he raped in 2012 when the victim was 15-years old.
Vernon Corbett, 42, who lives on 77th Street, contacted the woman via a LinkedIn request. Investigators followed up, which led them to discover that he had child pornography on his phone and that he had not registered his e-mail and social media accounts with the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, which sex offenders are required by law to do.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown said the woman contacted both the police and Corbett’s probation officer notifying them that in June 2016 that the defendant sent her a LinkedIn request. The woman had an active order of protection barring the Corbett from contacting her in person or online.
Upon investigating the case, the probation officer discovered that Corbett had failed to list his online identifiers. The investigation found that Corbett had both Gmail and Yahoo email accounts and was active on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
“In light of the recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that sex offenders cannot be excluded from the internet or social media, it is imperative that those on the registry abide by the rules of the Division of Criminal Justice Services,” Brown said.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant admitted to violating the order of protection against contacting the young woman he victimized five years ago. For this and for failing to register his online identifiers and for the photos of children being sexually abuse that were found on his phone, the defendant will go to prison.”
Corbett pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted possession of a sexual performance by a child before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gia Morris, who indicated she will sentence him to one year of incarceration on Sept. 15 for that offense.
On Friday, he also pleaded guilty to first-degree falsifying business records and second-degree criminal contempt before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron, who set sentencing for July 31. At that time, Corbett will be sentenced to one and a half to three years in prison. The defendant also pleaded guilty to violating his probation and will face one to three years’ incarceration.
All sentences will run concurrently, according to the District Attorney’s office.
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