Former Town of Southold Employee and Boy Scout Troop Leader Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

Damon Rallis was sentenced today in federal court in Central Islip by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack to 84 months in prison for distribution of child pornography. As part of his sentence, Rallis, a former Town of Southold employee and scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts, will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.

John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.

"The defendant possessed and distributed horrific images of child sex abuse, including the brutal rape of young children, and the years he will serve in prison will both protect our communities and help to bring justice to victims who were sexually exploited as children," stated United States Attorney Durham. "My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to prosecute and seek significant prison sentences for individuals like Rallis who contribute to a depraved marketplace that causes the abuse of children to satiate the perverse demand for these disturbing images."

"Damon Rallis violated his scoutmaster duty to serve as an ethical and moral leader by supplying obscene pornographic material to a twisted platform," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia. "His actions perpetuated the sexual abuse of young children without remorse. The FBI remains dedicated to holding accountable those who use the sexual exploitation of minors for personal gratification."

As set forth in court filings and during the sentencing hearing, the FBI began investigating Rallis after his participation in a chat group on the Kik messaging app of users who shared child pornography. An undercover agent who had joined the chat group received numerous images and videos of child pornography from the defendant, whose screenname was "dirtydaddy431." The images shared by Rallis included the rape of children as young as approximately five years old. On February 23, 2021, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the defendant's residence in Southold and seized several electronic devices, including his cell phone, which contained numerous images and videos of child pornography. In an unrelated investigation into sexual exploitation of children, law enforcement recovered a series of chats with Rallis from the cell phone of another individual (the Iowa defendant). In one of these chats, after the Iowa defendant described how he sexually abused his stepdaughter from age 4 to 7, Rallis stated: "She doesn't remember bro. You're good. The memories don't really develop until nine or ten. I would love that opportunity."

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The government's case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office's Long Island Division. Assistant United States <_w3a_listitem listvalue="Choose an item."><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Attorney" datavalue="Attorney"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Attorneys" datavalue="Attorneys"> Attorney Paul G. Scotti is in charge of the prosecution.

The <_w3a_listitem listvalue="Choose an item."><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Defendant" datavalue="Defendant"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Defendants" datavalue="Defendants">Defendant:

DAMON RALLIS
Age: 50
Southold, Long Island

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-150 (JMA)