Prosecution of Croton child pornography case will end in plea deal.
A federal judge will decide on village resident Eric Kyu's sentence later this year.
The Chronicle has been following the possession of child pornography charges against Croton resident Eric Kyu, which began with his arrest last August. The case had received a number of continuances from federal magistrates based in the White Plains branch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) as Kyu’s attorney and prosecutors discussed a plea deal.
The last continuance expired on March 19 and was not extended. We have learned from sources close to the case that the two sides have now come to a tentative agreement that will avoid the case coming to trial. The details are still to be worked out, but they will reportedly result in Kyu pleading guilty to the accusations in some form. The case will now go up before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, who will make the final decision on Kyu’s sentence—including whether he will have to do time in prison. The timing of that proceeding is still unsure, but probably not before this summer.
As we reported earlier, the U.S. Attorney’s office for our judicial district has treated Kyu’s case somewhat differently than some other child pornography prosecutions. As we wrote last January:
“In fact, it appears that the U.S. Attorney’s office for the SDNY may have broken with usual practice in not naming Kyu and publicizing the case itself. Just one week after Kyu was arrested, that office put out a press release announcing the arrest of Juan Tomas Diaz of the Bronx for one count of possessing child pornography, essentially the same charge that Kyu is now subject to.
In June of last year, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the SDNY put out a press release announcing the arrest of adult film actor Justin Heath Smith for distribution of child pornography, and there are many other examples.”
In contrast, judicial officials have declined to provide us with any details of the Kyu case beyond what appears in the public court docket. We can only speculate as to why, although it may have been to protect Kyu’s family. In our January story, we explained the journalistic considerations that have led us to keep the community informed about the case using other sources.
We will report further as necessary, including of course about Kyu’s eventual sentencing.
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