A New York Police Department officer assigned to Brooklyn’s 72nd Precinct was arraigned Wednesday on charges that he tried to convince someone he believed was a 16-year-old girl to strip naked during a video call. Christopher Torres Garcia, 36, was arrested in the Bronx earlier that day and released without bail following his appearance in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
The case stems from an undercover sting run by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, which targeted Torres Garcia as part of an ongoing investigation, according to New York Daily News. Prosecutors said Torres Garcia was introduced on August 5 to an undercover officer posing as a 16-year-old girl, and the two exchanged phone numbers that same day. Nearly two weeks later, on August 18, he asked the undercover officer multiple times to show her nude body during a video call, per the criminal complaint cited by the outlet — even after she told him she was in the shower.
Charges Filed and Court Appearance
Torres Garcia was charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor, attempted child endangerment, and official misconduct, prosecutors said. He has a return court date of December 1, 2026. His defense attorney, Daniel Servino, declined to comment on the allegations, the paper’s report notes.
Torres Garcia has served with the NYPD for four years and is assigned to the 72nd Precinct, which covers Sunset Park, Greenwood Heights, South Slope, and Windsor Terrace out of its headquarters at 830 4th Avenue, according to Hoodline’s earlier coverage of the precinct’s jurisdiction. Public records from the 50-a.org NYPD misconduct database show Torres Garcia, appointed in October 2022, had received two prior misconduct complaints encompassing three unproven allegations before this year.
Why He Walked Out Without Bail
The attempted dissemination charge falls under New York Penal Law § 235.22, which classifies dissemination of indecent material to a minor as a Class E felony carrying up to four years in prison — though attempted offenses, as charged here, carry reduced exposure under Penal Law § 110.00, per the Law Offices of Mayo Bartlett, PLLC. A full conviction on that statute would also trigger mandatory registration under the New York State Sex Offender Registration Act, the firm notes…