NEW YORK MAN SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR CHILD SEX OFFENSES

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a 51-year old former Owls Head, New York resident was sentenced May 19, 2009 by U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo to serve 240 months in federal prison for the enticement of a minor via internet and U.S. Mail and the production, receipt, and distribution of child pornography. Judge Rambo also ordered John Anthony Iorio to be placed on supervised release for the remainder of his life after serving his prison sentence. Iorio was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

Carlson stated that Iorio pleaded guilty to the offenses on November 20, 2008. Iorio’s prosecution stemmed from a year long undercover investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the New York State Police and Columbia County (NY) Sheriff’s Office.

Carlson noted that the prosecution of Iorio, who pled guilty to crimes that had occurred in both Pennsylvania and in upstate New York, was jointly conducted in cooperation with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod.

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