Former child psychologist Mass. convicted of child pornography

Crime

The Danvers man kept thousands of images of child pornography in his former apartment, prosecutors said.

A former child psychologist has been sentenced to three to four years in prison for child pornography.

Mark Ternullo, 71, of Danvers was found guilty last Friday of two counts of possession of child pornography following a three-day jury trial in Superior Court in Salem, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office announced Wednesday. Judge Thomas Drechsler also sentenced him to three years of probation after his release.

During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Maria Markos showed evidence that Ternullo kept thousands of images of child pornography in his former apartment in Danvers, authorities said.

“The discovery of the images came to light in early 2022 when a contractor hired by the apartment complex owner was conducting renovation work and noticed a small locked room containing the images,” the district attorney’s office said.

Authorities found additional photos on Ternullo’s hard drive.

Ternullo previously worked for more than 20 years as a child and family psychologist at schools in Beverly, Gloucester, Methuen, Middleton, Newburyport and Newton, the district attorney’s office said. The state suspended Ternullo’s license to practice psychiatry in 2022.

Ternullo will also be required to register as a sex offender, have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, stay away from witnesses and his former apartment building, and complete a sex offender evaluation, the statement said.

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Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, covering breaking news, crime and politics across New England.

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