Police Chief Praises Successful Conviction of Child Porn Suspect

A North Reading man was successfully convicted of child pornography charges in Woburn District Court last month.

North Reading Police, working with the Massachusetts State Police Cyber Crimes Unit, arrested Augustine Russo, 63, of North Reading in October 2014 for allegedly possessing child pornography.

He pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 27 at Woburn District Court.

“This guilty plea ends a yearlong investigation,” Police Chief Michael Murphy said. “I am pleased that justice has been served and I commend the hard work of the North Reading and Massachusetts State Police, as well as the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office for successfully prosecuting this case.”

Police began investigating Russo in September 2014, after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a Cybertip that later revealed Russo had uploaded child pornography to a social networking website. Investigators executed a search warrant on Russo’s home prior to his arrest and found additional images of child sexual abuse and other evidence on his laptop and on a flash memory card.