BEDFORD, N.Y. - A Bedford Hills man has received 19 years behind bars on federal charges of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
James Collins Jr., 69, the former owner of “Jimmy’s,” a now defunct bar in Katonah, was criminally charged in January 2024 by the U.S. Department of Justice with trying to persuade someone who he thought was a 15-year-old boy – actually an undercover police officer -- to meet up on Nov. 7, 2023 at the public library in Chappaqua for a tryst.
The young victim had already informed police of a previous illicit encounter there in July 2023 with Collins, who was subsequently arrested in that case and charged with Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree, a Class E felony.
Collins had been out on bail at the time of the November arrest, police said.
The criminal complaint had also alleged that Collins, who used the Snapchat username “jimc20237221,” had gotten a 17-year-old boy in Illinois to engage in -- and send him explicit photos and videos of – sexual activity.
Authorities reported finding multiple communications on Collins’ Snapchat account with 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds.
He pleaded guilty last March to two counts of enticement and coercion.
Sentencing took place in U.S. District Court before Judge Nelson Roman in White Plains on Friday, Oct. 31.
Collins could have gotten a maximum of 30 years in prison. He received two years’ credit for time served and will be subjected to five years of supervised release after his term is up.
When the complaint was unsealed on Jan. 24, 2024, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:
“This case underlines the urgent need for law enforcement to continue its efforts to protect children from those who prey on them. As today’s arrest shows, we will use every tool available to law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those alleged to have sexually exploited children.”
Civil Lawsuits
Previously, civil lawsuits had alleged that Collins had been preying on children for more than four decades.
In November 2018, after learning that Collins was working with children at a K-12 school in Westchester, several men came forward to report to multiple law enforcement agencies sex crimes they alleged had been committed against them when they were boys by Collins, a former summer camp coordinator, Little League coach, and school employee.
Named as defendants in the subsequent civil cases were the Village of Mount Kisco, the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester, and the Chappaqua Central Central School District.
Plaintiffs had alleged Collins had groomed and abused minors through his connections with those entities in the 1970s and 1980s.
The 16 civil cases were all settled earlier this year. Their terms and details have not been publicly disclosed.
According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, they successfully appealed the school district’s petition to be dismissed as a defendant. The district and the plaintiff in that particular case eventually settled, the lawyers said.
According to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, to support those allegations, certain victims had recorded “multiple conversations of Collins in which he discussed his past sexual conduct with minors.”
“In one 2019 recording, Collins stated that his attraction to children was something, ‘You just can't, like, walk away from it. You can't just stop that’,” said the law firms of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi and Krantz and Berman LLP.
Legal action was first filed in the Collins civil case -- under the New York Child Victims Act -- in 2020 by Greg Ardanowski, Scott Roth, and two other unnamed accusers.
It was amended the following year to include 13 more plaintiffs. (One of the plaintiffs later dropped out.)
The CVA extended the statute of limitations and allowed survivors of childhood sexual assault more time to seek justice. That window has since closed.
Roth said he was 14 and a youth counselor at the village’s Camp Iroquois in Leonard Park when he met Collins, a camp coordinator. Ardanowski was about 10 when he met Collins, who was then a Little League coach.
“I am grateful to the United States attorney and the judge for finally holding Jimmy Collins accountable for his horrible crimes. Collins started abusing me when I was 13 years old and has been alleged to have sexually abused children for nearly five decades. He would never have met many of these children if the Village of Mount Kisco and the Boys & Girls Club had not employed him, given him access to kids and ignored many red flags. This must never be allowed to happen again,” Ardanowski said in a statement released by his lawyers.
“This verdict is justice long delayed but finally delivered -- and a reminder that survivors’ voices can create lasting change,” said victims’ attorney Sarah Klein of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi in the same Nov. 3 press release.
“This court’s sentence makes clear the despicable conduct of Jimmy Collins will not go unpunished,” said victims’ attorney Jenny Louro, also of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi. “Not only has Collins been held accountable in criminal court, but his enablers, the Village of Mount Kisco and the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, have been held accountable through the civil justice system.”
Louro told Halston Media last week that it was tough for victims to come forward and they should be praised for their bravery.
“By sharing their stories, they helped reveal the full scope of this man’s behavior,” she said.
Alyzza Ozer, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester, which is located in Mount Kisco, said in an email to Halston Media that “safety is the Number 1 priority of BGCNW for our members, families, and community.”
Background checks are performed annually for all staff members and volunteers at the 86-year-old organization and there are “rigorous inspections for both programing procedures and the facility while adhering to all rules and regulations for state, federal, and county safety requirements,” she said.
Ozer also noted that the club’s “mission is to inspire and enable all youth to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens” and that it serves approximately 900 youths, from the ages of three to 18, each day by providing hot meals and more than 40 different programs.
Asked to comment on Collins’ sentencing in the criminal case, she sent the following:
“The club has no position relative to this recent conviction which had nothing to do with allegations regarding the civil lawsuits from over 40 years ago whereby the club absolutely established during litigation that Mr. Collins was not an employee of the club during the alleged period of abuse and as a result, the club maintains it bears no liability for the alleged conduct.”
Louro, however, pointed out to Halston Media last week that while the club had asserted Collins wasn’t an employee, the plaintiffs’ lawyers' counter argument was that “he was acting like an employee. He had keys to the club.”
The club made a motion asking to be dismissed as a defendant and plaintiffs took the opposing stance.
According to Louro, the court then ruled that whether or not Collins was an employee “was an ‘issue of fact’ that would have had to have been up to a jury to decide.”
There was no jury because, Louro said, the case against the club – like the village and school district – “was settled.”
When asked to comment on Collins’ sentencing, Mount Kisco Mayor J. Michael Cindrich sent Halston Media the following statement:
“I cannot rejoice or celebrate the final chapter of the Collins case. I hope the recent developments in the criminal case give the victims some degree of closure.
Acknowledging that no amount of money or even a lengthy prison sentence can compensate for the damage inflicted on children spanning a time period that began in the 1970s. The civil case was filed in 2020, long after the criminal statutes of limitations expired. The civil case against the village was settled during trial, in the best interest of all involved. The Village Board acted swiftly in 2024 to settle the civil case against the village.
As for the criminal case, I commend the police officers of the New Castle Police for their tenacity in successfully investigating the allegations and aggressively assisting in the prosecution.
For several years, Collins enjoyed the reputation of being a respected coach, mentor and trusted recreation leader. A classic example of betrayal.”
New York Attorney Larry Krantz, who also represented victims, called the sentence in the criminal case “tough but deserved.”
It should prevent Collins “from ever abusing another child,” he said.
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