Registered Sex Offender Charged In Bellmore Groping

BY LAURA RIVERA

A registered sex offender who was under probation was charged Monday with groping two teenage boys in the Bellmore upholstery store he opened just months ago, police said.

Alfred Balcerak, 49, of 11 Pettit Pl., pleaded not guilty to second-degree sexual abuse, forcible touching and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, a spokesman for the county prosecutor said. Balcerak was represented by Legal Aid.

In early May, Balcerak saw the boys, ages 13 and 14, walk by the storefront and offered them work, paying them in cash for odd jobs and giving them gifts, Det. Lt. Karl Schoepp, commanding officer of Nassau police First Squad, said at a news conference Monday.

"He roughhoused with them and grabbed them in their private parts" through their clothing, Schoepp said. "When they got upset, there were times when he would tell them, 'Man up, this is what men do, play roughhouse.'"

The 14-year-old boy's mother, suspicious of Balcerak, searched the state sex offender registry Web site and found Balcerak listed as a Level 2 sex offender, Schoepp said. She notified Nassau police last week, Schoepp said, and officers arrested Balcerak Sunday at a friend's home in Long Beach.

Convicted of sexual abuse against a 9-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy in 1998, Balcerak was sentenced to five years' probation, court records show.

Last December, Balcerak was arrested for failing to register his address with the sex offender registry, records show. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years' of probation for the 2007 charge, a misdemeanor, according to records.

"Alfred Balcerak got a slap on the hand when he was only sentenced to probation after being convicted of a felony sex offense against two children," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, an advocacy group. "A sentence for a sex offense must be strong enough to deter future conduct."

"Many times in these situations, they start from a quick familiarization until they gain the trust of the child," and then escalate to touching, Schoepp said. "If anybody in the area hadtheir child acquainted with this fellow, they should come forward," Schoepp said.

Balcerak was ordered held on $250,000 bond, $100,000 cash bail at his arraignment yesterday in First District Court in Hempstead, police said.

By LAURA RIVERA
Posted Thursday, June 12, 2008