A former assistant commissioner with the New York City Probation Department who lived in Pennsylvania was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison after he admitted he received and possessed child pornography.
A federal judge on Monday also ordered lifetime supervised release for Robert Costello, 54, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Costello pleaded guilty in March to receipt of child pornography, access with intent to view child pornography and possession of child pornography.
Costello admitted receiving sexually explicit images of children over the internet and possessing thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of children while he was employed by the porbation department.
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“The defendant held a position of public trust paid by taxpayer dollars as an assistant commissioner with the City of New York,” U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a statement. “And at the same time, he was also downloading and storing sexually exploitative images of children – thus creating demand for those depictions to be produced and children to be victimized. ”
He was terminated from his job last year.
