Danvers man sentenced to prison for possession of child sexual abuse material

A 71-year-old man who worked as a child and family psychologist was sentenced to prison on Wednesday after being convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Mark Ternullo, of Danvers, was found guilty of two counts of possession of child pornography after a three-day jury trial, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker announced. He was sentenced to three to four years in prison.

Ternullo kept thousands of images of child sexual abuse in his Danvers apartment. The footage was discovered by a contractor hired by the building’s owner, Tucker’s office said in a statement.

The contractor was doing renovation work and found a small enclosed space containing the statues. Additional images were found on a Ternullo hard drive, Tucker’s office said.

Ternullo has worked for more than 20 years as a child and family psychologist, including at schools in Beverly, Gloucester, Methuen, Middleton, Newburyport and Newton, the statement said. The state suspended his license to practice psychiatry in 2022.

After prison, Ternullo will serve three years of probation. He will be required to register as a sex offender, have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 17, stay away from witnesses and the apartment building where he once lived, and complete a sex offender evaluation, Tucker’s office said.