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Spy Camera Landlord Sentenced to Probation

Donald J. Torr, 71, was sentenced to five years' probation on Thursday.
Donald J. Torr, 71, was sentenced to five years' probation on Thursday.
Suffolk County district attorney's office
By
T.E. McMorrow

A Springs landlord who admitted using cameras to spy on his summer rental tenants was sentenced to five years' probation Thursday in the Riverside courtroom of State Supreme Court Justice Barbara R. Kahn.

Donald J. Torr, 71, now of Celebration, Fla., had pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges as well as nine misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child.

Two families who stayed at his $6,500-a-week rental in the summer of 2012 have brought civil suits against Mr. Torr and his wife, Astrid Torr, in New York State, seeking damages. He was indicted in May 2013 by a grand jury in Riverside and arrested a month later in Florida on a warrant. He was extradited back to New York two days later.

Justice Kahn agreed to transfer his probation time to Florida, allowing him to report to officers on a regular basis in what is now his home state. He will not have to return to New York unless there is a report of a violation of probation. The district attorney's office had recommended that Mr. Torr be sentenced to the maximum of two and two-thirds to eight years in prison.

Mr. Torr, originally from Montauk, is the former owner of the Crow's Nest restaurant there.

 

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