Child psychiatrist John F. Theroux sentenced for child pornography

June 12, 2012

WILKES-BARRE – A former child psychiatrist charged with 66 counts of possession of child pornography was sentenced Thursday to two years in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program.

John Francis Theroux, 54, of Charles Avenue, Kingston, was sentenced on the charges by county Senior Judge Hugh Mundy.
Mundy said Theroux must serve the first year of his sentence on house arrest with an electronic monitor. Theroux also received an additional three years probation.

Mundy said Theroux must register his address under Megan’s Law for his entire life, and is to have no unsupervised contact with minors and cannot frequent places minors visit.

Theroux pleaded guilty to the charges in January. After an evaluation by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, Theroux was determined not to be a sexually violent predator.

“It is a fair and appropriate sentence under all of the circumstances,” Theroux’s attorney, Frank Nocito said.

Theroux was charged in August after his estranged wife turned over a file containing pictures of nude children to a therapist at a marital counseling session. The therapist reported the pictures to Kingston police.

Police searched the Theroux residence on Aug. 26 and allegedly uncovered 66 images of nude children on a hard drive, according to charges filed.

Theroux said during the marital counseling session that looking at pictures of young girls is “not illegal if there isn’t any sex acts involved,” the complaint says.

Theroux claimed his interest in looking at young girls increased when his wife made him leave their bedroom.

Theroux admitted to investigators he used certain keywords to search for child pornography, and even researched the state child pornography laws.

He believed since the children weren’t engaged in sexual acts, the images he was downloading were not considered child pornography, according to the complaint.

Nocito has previously said his client retired from the U.S. Army in 2006 as a colonel, served in Iraq and was assigned at the West Point Military Academy in New York.

Theroux has attended extensive rehabilitation and inpatient treatment, and as part of his sentencing Thursday, Mundy said he must continue with therapy and treatment.

At the time of his arrest, Theroux resigned as a child psychiatrist at the Children’s Service Center of the Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre.

Source: Sheena DeLazio, "Ex-child psychiatrist sentenced to intermediate punishment," Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, June 8, 2012.