NYPD officer from Lake Grove begins serving sentence on child pornography charges

An NYPD officer from Lake Grove who pleaded guilty to possessing child  sexual abuse material earlier this year began serving his sentence on Friday, although he will not be formally sentenced until December, according to Suffolk court officials and the district attorney’s office.

Steven Marksberry, who was arrested in June 2023, pleaded guilty to possession of a sexual performance by a child and promotion of sexual performance by a child on Jan. 31, according to court records.

Marksberry, 51, was scheduled for sentencing before acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis on Friday, but the court spokesman and district attorney's spokeswoman said the hearing was postponed until Dec. 8.

Marksberry was taken into custody on Friday and began serving his sentence, although Wilutis will not determine the length of that punishment until the December hearing. He will undergo a sex offender risk assessment prior to sentencing, the court representative said.

Marksberry’s attorney, Scott Zerner, of Manhattan, declined to comment.

An indictment handed down in July 2023 charged Marksberry with more than 100 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors said he took screenshots and saved images depicting the sexual abuse of girls as young as 4 years old on his cellphone.

The NYPD suspended Marksberry without pay after his arrest by Suffolk police. The NYPD did not immediately respond to requests about his current status with the department.

The investigation into Marksberry began when the Suffolk County Police Department received an internet Crimes Against Children tip that said Marksberry had uploaded child sexual abuse images to his iCloud storage account, prosecutors said.