Former camp counselor in NY child-victim suits faces charges for attempting to entice minors

A Katonah bar owner accused in lawsuits of sexually abusing boys in the Mount Kisco area in the 1980s is now facing federal charges alleging he tried last year to meet a Westchester teen for a sexual tryst in a library bathroom and had an Illinois teenager send him sexually explicit images of himself.

James Collins Jr., 67, of Bedford Hills, was arrested Wednesday morning by FBI agents on charges of attempted enticement and sexual exploitation of a child.

“This case underlines the urgent need for law enforcement to continue its efforts to protect children from those who prey on them," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a news release.

Past coverage: Former camp counselor accused in sex abuse case used to work as school driver, janitor

Collins had been free on bail since his Nov. 7 arrest by New Castle police when he showed up for what he thought would be sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy in the bathroom of the Chappaqua Library.

He was charged with third-degree criminal sex act related to an earlier meet-up there with the teenager in July 2023 when he allegedly engaged in oral sex with the boy and paid him $200. According to the federal complaint, the boy informed New Castle police and a detective posing as the boy used his Snapchat account to communicate with Collins and arrange to meet at the library on Nov. 7.

The federal charges relate in part to communications Collins had with minors that were discovered when a search warrant was obtained for his cell phone. According to the complaint, a review of Collins' Snapchat activity showed he had received several naked photos and videos of a teen boy from mid September through the date of his arrest. The phone records also showed he had communicated with 17 Snapchat accounts identified as belonging to 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds.

Past coverage: Sex abuse suit leveled against ex-camp leader, Mount Kisco, Boys & Girls Club, others

The teen who sent Collins the videos told authorities in an interview last month that he had made the images and sent them at Collins' request in exchange for Collins' promise of gifts, although all he ever received was a Pokemon plush toy, according to the complaint.

Collins appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in White Plains on Wednesday afternoon. Magistrate Judge Judith McCarthy ordered him held without bond and scheduled his next court appearance for Feb. 7. The attempted enticement charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and Collins faces up to 30 years in prison on the exploitation charge.

Defense lawyer Kerry Lawrence said that in connection to both charges, the alleged victims told Collins they were 19. He argued unsuccessfully that a bail package including house arrest could ensure that Collins would not abscond and the public would be protected. But he said McCarthy found that Collins posed a danger, in part because she questioned how someone could engage in the alleged activities while under the spotlight of the civil lawsuits.

The lawsuits were first filed in September 2020. They allege that Collins, a former Camp Iroquois counselor and Mount Kisco recreation worker, had sexually abused more than a dozen boys at Memorial Pool in Mount Kisco's Leonard Park, at the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester and other locations in the 1980s. They were filed under the Child Victims Act, which provided a window for accusers to sue over child sex abuse years after the statute of limitations had expired.

Before the lawsuits were filed, Collins had been working for three years as a bus driver and janitor at the Hawthorne Cedar Knolls school district in Mount Pleasant. He was the owner of Jimmy's Place, a bar in Katonah.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Westchester NY man faces federal sexual exploitation of a child charge