Ex-honor student gets five years for child porn

A former Smithson Valley High honor student who could have gone to elite colleges is instead headed to prison for five years for possessing violent child pornography he downloaded on his father's National Security Agency laptop and a home computer.

Calling the downloaded material “stomach-turning,” Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery imposed the sentence Friday on Christopher Thomas Cardella, despite calls for a lower term, even probation, by his lawyer, Van Hilley.

Cardella, 22, faced up to 10 years in prison, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson told the judge prosecutors wanted prison time for Cardella because he had been looking at child porn for two years before he was caught.

On Aug. 11 2009, a month after Cardella's 18th birthday, the FBI showed up at his parents' home to investigate findings that someone had been downloading child pornography.

Before that, Cardella's father had turned in his work laptop, and a review of its contents found a program used to remove activity or material, according to FBI special agent Jeff Allovio.

“This was a violation of (government) policy,” Allovio testified.

It also raised a red flag, resulting in a probe to see if someone was “selling secrets to the spies,” he said.

Hilley said later that the father was cleared of wrongdoing.

The investigation found Cardella's father had let Cardella use the laptop, and he tried to remove child porn he had downloaded, though Allovio said some was still found during a forensic examination. Plenty more was found on a computer Cardella built or customized himself at home.

“The most significant thing is the nature of it,” Allovio testified. “The child pornography is extremely horrendous.”

Much of it involved animé, cartoonlike images depicting children being raped and tortured by adults, and with animals, Allovio said. There were also videos of real children being sexually brutalized, Allovio testified.

In one, a child is screaming, trying to get away from his abusers, Allovio told the judge.

“You don't often see that type of brutality with some of those child porn images,” Allovio said.

Hilley noted that Cardella hasn't acted out on children — and that prosecutors have no evidence linking him to any acts. Cardella has been undergoing psychological treatment and counseling, Hilley added.

Hilley tried to get the judge to focus on the promise Cardella showed: He played junior and varsity football at Smithson, was in ROTC and student council. He had a 3.75 grade-point average, and was offered scholarships to Harvard, Norwich University, the Coast Guard Academy, Brown University, Texas Christian University, and Stanford.

Hilley also argued that his client had not yet formed the capacity to understand how he would change his life forever.

gcontreras@express-news.net