PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Robert Costello, 54, of Bethlehem, PA, was sentenced to twelve years and seven months in prison, and lifetime supervised release by United States District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr. for child pornography offenses.
In March 2021, Costello pleaded guilty to all counts against him: three counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of access with intent to view child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. The defendant admitted to receiving sexually explicit images of children over the Internet and possessing thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of children on several devices that he kept and stored at his residence. During the time that he committed these crimes, Costello was employed as Assistant Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation.
“The defendant held a position of public trust paid by taxpayer dollars as an Assistant Commissioner with the City of New York,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “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. Our Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in all jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute child sexual exploitation offenses – no matter what profession or status the offenders may hold.”
“Sexually exploiting children is a terrible crime, made even more reprehensible when the perpetrator is someone in a position of public trust,” said Brian A. Michael, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, “Robert Costello, as an Assistant Commissioner of New York City’s probation department, violated that trust, and now he will face the consequences. HSI will continue to pursue cases like this one, to protect children and ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their crimes.”
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Bethlehem Township Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Francis A. Weber and Kelly Harrell and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Jessica Urban of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).
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