A former school bus driver was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison for knowingly receiving and attempting to receive DVDs depicting child pornography, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced.
Thomas Silber, 51, of Yardley, pleaded guilty in December to receiving 10 child pornography DVDs through the mail. According to a sentencing document, Silber admitted to also pursuing a sexual relationship with at least one of the children depicted in the videos.
Silber, who also served as a Little League baseball umpire and youth wrestling referee, received the videos as part of a collection of 71 DVDs he ordered between February 2007 and October 2010, according to court documents. The videos depicted minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Silver later contacted the videos' producer and arranged to meet at least one of the depicted children, who was living in Ukraine, according to the sentencing document. He traveled to Ukraine on multiple occasions to engage in sexual activity with the child.
The purchased DVDs were produced by a company in Canada and shipped via interstate and foreign commerce.
U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Stengel also sentenced Silber to five years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine and a $1,000 special assessment. Silver will be required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the Lower Makefield Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Morgan prosecuted the case.