Former Pawcatuck Pediatrician Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Dr. Todd Parrilla, a former Pawcatuck pediatrician who was arrested on child pornography charges in 2011, was sentenced to five years in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release Wednesday.

According to a press release from the Connecticut U.S. Attorney's office Parilla also has to pay a $10,000 fine.

“For more than a decade, this practicing pediatrician secretly assembled a massive collection of child pornography,” U.S. Attorney David Fein said.  “The images Dr. Parrilla possessed and traded included numerous horrific depictions of the sexual abuse of children. It’s an incredible act of hypocrisy by someone who should have been committed to the well-being of children. Viewing child pornography is never a victimless act, and this sentence should serve as a warning to anyone who is contemplating engaging in similar crimes.”

Parrilla faced a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He has to report to prison on Jan. 4, 2013.

Parrilla was charged with the possession, receipt, and distribution of child pornography following an FBI undercover operation that originated in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time of his arrest Parrilla, was a practicing pediatrician in Pawcatuck. He pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges in June of 2012.

Investigators found no evidence that any of "...Parrilla's patients were depicted in the child pornography found in his home, or that Parrilla had inappropriate sexual contact with any of his patients...," the press release stated.

“The receipt and distribution of child pornography is a crime which causes unspeakable harm and devastation to the lives of the victimized children, and its impact is immeasurable,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Mertz said.  “Those who receive and distribute child pornography promote, feed and sustain the supply and demand of that dark and disturbing world. The agents and officers who investigate these atrocious crimes are truly special people who have devoted themselves to eliminating child pornography, and their message to those who live in that world is abundantly clear: ‘We will find you and you will be brought to justice.’ Today’s sentencing of Dr. Parrilla is case in point.”

According to The Day Parrilla claimed in a court document that his sexual intrested in young boys came from the violent and sexual acts he witnessed at a Boy Scout Camp as a 12-year-old.

The Pawcatuck office where he practiced medicine closed in October of 2011.