DANVERS, MASS. (WHDH) - A child psychologist is facing criminal charges after a contractor who was renovating his apartment found multiple boxes full of child porn images hidden in a secret room, authorities said.
Mark Ternullo, 68, was arraigned Thursday in Salem District Court on a charge of possession of child pornography, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
Officers responding to a multi-family home on Butler Avenue spoke with the building owner and learned that a contractor she hired had found hundreds of pornographic images of children in Ternullo’s apartment, the district attorney’s office said.
The contractor had to remove the wall behind Ternullo’s bathtub due to extensive water damage and, in doing so, reportedly found a hidden room in which images were being stored.
Danvers police detectives later executed a search warrant with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Crime Scene Services.
Ternullo had been living at the home for about 23 years, the building owner told investigators.
Ternullo was ordered held on $10,000 bail. Should he be released, he must remain under house arrest, have no contact with children under 18 and stay away from the internet.
He is due back in court for a pre-trial conference on March 7.
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