Doctor Sentenced to 33 Years in Prison for Child Porn

Grant Gross, IDG News Service

A Florida family practice doctor has been sentenced to 33 years and nine months in prison for receipt and possession of child pornography, the latest in a long line of child pornography cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Dr. Richard Carino was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida after being found guilty on July 10.

Carino, from New Port Richey, Florida, was apparently turned in by his wife at the time after she discovered child pornography on his home computer in mid-2005. Carino's wife, Autumn, also pointed out to investigators marijuana that was allegedly her husband's, according to a story in the St. Petersburg Times.


U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents searched Carino's computer with his wife's permission, the DOJ said in a press release. Investigators found evidence of child pornography in both Carino's home and office computers, including videos and images of child pornography, and logs and relevant file names associated with Kazaa, a P-to-P (peer-to-peer) file-sharing program.

By examining Kazaa logs recovered from Carino's office computer, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to identify additional child pornography videos that had once been stored on that computer, the DOJ said.

Carino's sentence is part of a nationwide crackdown on child pornography launched by the DOJ in mid-2006. In the past month, 13 other U.S. residents have been sentenced on child pornography charges, five have been

charged or indicted, four have pleaded guilty, and an Alabama man was convicted on a charge of producing child pornography, according to information from the FBI.

In addition, a Washington state man due to be sentenced on Nov. 17 for receipt of child pornography cut off his ankle bracelet tracking device and apparently fled the state.

Carino was charged in January with six counts related to child pornography. The first four counts charged him with possession and receipt of child pornography related to the July 2005, searches of his home and office. He also was charged with two counts of possession and receipt relating to the August 2005, seizure of his home computer. The jury convicted him on all six charges.

Carino was also investigated in 2005 by the DEA for working with an Internet pharmacy to illegally prescribe medications.