Cumberland County man convicted of receiving child pornography

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — The Justice Department announced Thursday that a Mechanicsburg man has been sentenced to years in prison after receiving child pornography.

According to US Attorney Gerard M. Karam, 35-year-old Anthony Lauro was also sentenced to pay victims of his crimes $24,000 in damages and serve 10 years of supervised release after serving 10 years in prison.

Attorney Karam stated that Lauro pleaded guilty to receiving images and video of child pornography sent to him by Cumberland County resident Ryan Banks. Banks created the illegal images with a 14-year-old West Virginia boy in September 2020, when Banks was 36.

Banks is currently serving a 17.5 to 35 year sentence in West Virginia for his felonies.

Lauro was in contact with both banks and the victim at the time the victim was sexually exploited. During the investigation, agents discovered that Lauro possessed over 1,000 images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of other minors.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with support from the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, the Mechanicsburg Police Department and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office in West Virginia.