(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA)  Yesterday, a former physician who used to work at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh got sentenced in federal court for possessing videos of minors that were explicit. According to court papers, fifty-four-year-old Ashok Panigrahy of both Chicago and Pittsburgh, was sentenced to spend four years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, after he was found to have “materials depicting the sexual exploitation of minors.” Documents stated that Panigrahy was able to get these explicit videos on minors through conversations online through a platform that was encrypted. Panigrahy collected those videos in November of 2022. According to court documents, in addition to his sentencing, Panigrahy was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, a $17,000 assessment pursuant to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, a $5,000 assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, and $10,000 in restitution to his minor victims.