School bus driver Guenther Mayrhofer, of Mastic Beach, indicted in child porn case 

A school bus driver for the William Floyd School District was indicted Thursday for allegedly downloading and saving more than 100 images and videos of child sexual abuse, authorities said.

Guenther Mayrhofer, 71, of Mastic Beach, was indicted on 25 counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child and 25 counts of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child. He has pleaded not guilty to charges in the case.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis ordered Mayrhofer held on $150,000 cash, $500,000 bond, or $1.5 million partially secured bond.

The William Floyd School District, which has confirmed Mayrhofer works for the district, said he was decertified as a driver “the moment we were informed of his arrest.” He was arrested earlier this month by New York State Troopers.

Troopers had received a tip that Mayrhofer had allegedly uploaded approximately 20 images of child sexual abuse to a cloud storage account, officials said. On August 15, they executed a search warrant of Mayrhofer’s home and recovered numerous electronic devices and electronic storage devices.

A review of the devices found that Mayrhofer had allegedly downloaded and saved over 100 images and videos of child sexual abuse, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Friday.

“There is nothing more important to my office than protecting children and tracking down predators in our community,” Tierney said in a statement. “It is deeply disturbing that this defendant was allegedly in close proximity to children every day as a school bus driver.”

The troopers opened the investigation into Mayrhofer after getting an online tip generated by the nationwide Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program, a network of 61 task forces which comprise 5,400 federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecution agencies.

During the search of his home, troopers seized cellphones, tablets, laptops, hard drives, SD cards and USB drives.

Mayrhofer is due back in court on October 8. He is being represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society, which generally does not comment on cases.

“I thank the New York State Police for their diligent investigation in this case,” Tierney said. “We will continue to work closely with them and our other law enforcement partners to seek justice for these innocent victims.”

Authorities said that if you or someone you know believe you have been victimized by Mayrhofer, contact the New York State Police, the Suffolk County Police Department, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Zachary Kelly of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau. The investigation was conducted by Investigator Fatih Ket of the New York State Police.