Former Bus Driver Receives 30-year Sentence For Child Porn

Mario Meschino, 42, a former Plainfield school bus driver, has received a 30-year prison sentence after admitting to collecting and trading child pornography. Federal prosecutors found over a thousand pictures and videos of child pornography on Meschino's computer when he was arrested last year.

During the trial, prosecutor Angel Krull drew attention to the fact (via the Chicago Sun-Times) that Meschino also possessed a collection of hundreds of photographs that he had shot from his home of young children playing in his neighborhood--without their consent. While he was free on bond last summer, neighbors had complained to police that Meschino was taking pictures of their children from his house.

In addition to the sentence handed out by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Kocoras, Meschino will also be placed on supervised release and registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.