Deer Park Resident Also Registered As a Sex Offender after 2016 Conviction
A cardiologist from Deer Park who is also a registered sex offender has been sentenced to four to eight years in prison for possession of child pornography.
In September 2023, the Suffolk County Police Department’s Digital Forensics Unit received notice that Frank Pollaro was uploading images of child pornography to a website. On October 12, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Pollaro’s residence and recovered several electronic devices.
Police later found that Pollaro’s laptop contained thousands of images and videos depicting children, some as young as four years old, engaging in sexual acts with adults. Pollaro admitted to possessing those images and videos.
At the time of his arrest, Pollaro was already a registered level one sex offender, stemming from a 2016 conviction for possession of child pornography in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. On that case, Pollaro was sentenced to probation. Despite that conviction, the New York State Health Department’s Bureau of Professional Medical Conduct allowed Pollaro to retain his medical license and continue practicing medicine in New York State.
On July 11, 2024, Pollaro pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child, both Class E felonies, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis. On September 9, 2024, Wilutis sentenced Pollaro to four to eight years in prison. As a condition of his plea, Pollaro surrendered his New York State medical license.
“This defendant’s continued possession of child pornography notwithstanding a prior federal conviction for the same, demonstrates a disturbing pattern of behavior,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray
Tierney. “Prison, not probation, is appropriate for consumers of child sexual assault materials. My office also required that he surrender his New York State medical license as a necessary step to protect the public, especially innocent children because, inconceivable, New York State allowed this defendant to continue to practice medicine despite that prior child pornography conviction.”