Consent Disbarment For Child Porn Conviction

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court accepted the consent disbarment of a convicted attorney.

PennLive (John Beauge) reported on the sentencing

A Lycoming County attorney got a tongue-lashing from a judge before heading to state prison to begin serving a 3- to 8-year child pornography case sentence.

Potter County Senior Judge John B. Leete on Wednesday told James R. Protasio, 66, that he has an issue with the lawyer’s understanding of victimization.

“You need to understand you contributed to the victimization of these children by your actions,” he said.

The judge accused Protasio of failing to understand the impact on the children involved in making pornographic material.

It is hard to imagine what their lives will be like and how they will make it in the world as they grow up, he said.

Leete went along with the plea agreement on the prison sentence but called it “really minimal” referring to 51 counts originally against Protasio.

He pleaded to 11 counts of sexual abuse of children that reflect possession of 550 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Hundreds of images of child pornography were found in Protasio’s office in a garage behind the Cogan Station area house when a search warrant was executed on May 3, 2018.

Also discovered was a computer actively running BitTorrent, a network used to share child pornography.

Protasio, a former county conflicts attorney, apologized and said he realized the seriousness of what he did.

Leete‘s sentence also includes a $10,000 fine and 15 years of registration under Megan’s Law. Protasio was found not to be a sexual violent predator.

He has agreed to forfeiture items seized during the investigation, Deputy Attorney General David Drumheller said.

The state Supreme Court on Sept. 26 temporarily suspended Protasio’s law license pending the resolution of the criminal case.

(Mike Frisch)