Feds stomp out ‘spider’ in NC child-sex-abuse materials case, US attorney says
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- Kyle Castino was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison Wednesday.
- Police found hundreds of thousands of files of child sexual abuse material on his devices.
- Castino had also produced child sexual abuse material with at least one child.
A Triangle area man will spend more than 16 years in federal prison after being sentenced Wednesday on multiple charges of possessing child-sexual-abuse material.
Kyle Kenneth Castino, 36, was arrested in March 2023 after a search of his Selma home, court documents show. Law enforcement became aware of Castino when Google and Facebook reported a Garner IP address had been accessing abuse material, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The IP address was tied to Castino’s home, the release said. When he moved to Johnston County, the Selma Police Department joined the investigation.
Hundreds of thousands of images and more than 3,000 videos depicting child-sexual-abuse were discovered on five thumb drives, two SD cards, two SSD drives and one iPhone seized from Castino’s residence, according to court documents. He’d downloaded the material as far back as June 2017.
“Inmate Castino admitted he had perverted sexual interest in children,” the release states. “Additionally, law enforcement discovered Inmate Castino had produced images with a child.”
Castino, who worked at a Clayton Walmart and as a self-employed computer technician, was arrested March 30, 2023, and has been in federal custody since. He pleaded guilty to three charges of distribution and/or transfer of child pornography in October, court records show.
Per a plea arrangement, U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced Castino on Wednesday to 16 years and six months in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release, according to court records. Castino also must pay $35,000 in restitution, though court records don’t specify to whom.
“Thanks to the identification of this spider and robust investigation by our law enforcement partners, we have stomped out this spider for the next two decades, and in reality, forever,” said Ellis Boyle, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, in a written statement.
