Federal judge sentences Croton resident Eric Kyu to 48 months in prison for possession of child pornography.

The judge agreed with the prosecution that the crimes of child exploitation were so prolonged and serious that Kyu could not be let off with just probation and no prison time.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas.

WHITE PLAINS — As we reported last week, federal prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas of the Southern District of New York (White Plains branch) to sentence Croton resident Eric Kyu to a minimum of 48 months for possession of child pornography, a charge Kyu pleaded guilty to last year.

The request was in stark contrast to the recommendations of probation officials in their Presentencing Report, which asked only for time served (one day in jail after Kyu was arrested in August 2024) and probation. The Presentencing Report was clearly influenced by the arguments of Kyu’s attorney, James Kousouros, who emphasized the sex addiction therapy and other psychological evaluations Kyu had undergone over the past two years.

Kousouros also put considerable emphasis on the fact that a Family Court had allowed Kyu to return home to his wife and daughter in Croton after about a year of supervised visits, and a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that Kyu had recently received from a physician.

Before Judge Karas pronounced sentence, he heard from Kousouros, as well as federal prosecutor Steven Ballew, and from Kyu himself, who said that he accepted full responsibility for his actions even as he asked the court for a merciful sentence.

But in the end, Judge Karas accepted the government’s position that the 48 months was already discounted from what federal sentencing guidelines normally called for in such cases, an average of more than 70 months in prison. Karas also made clear that while he was taking the interests of Kyu’s family into account, he needed to send a clear signal that one could not escape a prison sentence for child pornography just because there might be some medical or psychological explanations for why the defendant had engaged in the behavior.

The judge clearly struggled with the various factors he had to weigh in deciding what was a fair and just sentence for Kyu. He explained his thinking in detail during a gripping, roughly 30 minute soliloquy that was at times dramatic and emotional.

Kyu was ordered to surrender to prison authorities on September 30.

The Chronicle has been covering this case for almost two years now. There are many difficult and heartbreaking aspects to this story, some of which were revealed only in the past week or so as the sentencing date approached. We will publish a more detailed account of what happened in court today in due course.

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