North Reading Man Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

Photo: Augustine Russo. Credit: North Reading Police.

A 62-year-old North Reading man was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with possession of child pornography.

Augustine Russo, of Main Street, was arrested after North Reading Police and members of the Massachusetts State Police Cyber Crimes Unit served a search warrant at his home, according to a North Reading Police release.

According to police, the investigation into Russo began in September after a tip was received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an email address on a computer, both of which police later linked to Russo, had uploaded child pornography to a social networking site.

On Wednesday, authorities allegedly found additional images of child sexual abuse and other evidence on Russo’s laptop and on a flash memory card that may lead to additional charges.

Russo was held on $5,000 cash bail and is expected to be arraigned Thursday in Woburn District Court.