East Moriches Man Faces 66 Counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child

Southampton Town Police arrested a 28-year-old man from East Moriches after they said he tried to call a Westhampton girl 66 times over a six-month period, violating an outstanding order of protection.

Police subpoenaed and analyzed Cablevision telephone records from January 2011 to June 2011 that showed Charles Kaeppel had tried to call a 16-year-old girl from Westhampton 66 times, even though her parents had already placed an order of protection against him in November 2010.

The girl entered a complaint about the calls August 18 at around 12:28 a.m., according to the police blotter. The girl and Kaeppel had had a previous relationship but police did not know how they met.

Kaeppel does not have a police record other than minor infractions, police said. He has only targeted this one female, police said.

Police arrested Kaeppel Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. at a probation center in Riverhead, where he was dealing with another issue, police said. He was charged with 66 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and 66 counts of second-degree criminal contempt, both misdemeanors.

Whether or not Kaeppel is labeled as a sex offender is a matter for the courts to decide, police said.