Newsman arrested

BY PAT CAMUSO

WESTFALL TOWNSHIP — Westfall Township police say that a well-known Tri-State region newscaster downloaded hundreds of sexually explicit pictures involving children on to his personal computer from the Internet.

On Tuesday, July 23, Paul Lester, 59, was arrested by Westfall Township Police and charged with felony possession of child pornography, criminal use of a communication facility, also a felony, and possession of obscene materials, a misdemeanor.

Lester has been a familiar public voice for more than 20 years and is best known for his work with WDLC-AM and WTSX-FM out of Port Jervis, where he was news director. In September of 1994, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the radio station, Port Jervis celebrated “Paul Lester Day.”

In recent years, Lester created Tri-State News, an Internet-based news outlet that focuses on Pike County and Port Jervis news. Last February, Tri- State News was purchased from Pike Media Partners by Pike Online Inc of Milford. Lester continued to write and edit for Tri-State News as an employee of Pike Online after the purchase.

According to Westfall Township Police Chief Mark Moglia, Pike Online became aware of the pornography on Lester’s personal home computer when it was brought to them for an upgrade on July 17. Moglia said three employees of Pike Online discovered the illicit images on the hard drive and immediately called police.

Moglia emphasized, however, that there was no evidence that Lester molested or did anything improper with a child and that he has no prior record into such activity. Charges were limited to possession. Police say there were more than two hundred illegal pictures on the hard drive, with the majority deleted to the recycle bin where they were found.

According to Moglia, Lester also coached a fourth-grade Odyssey of the Mind team at Delaware Valley Elementary School.

A local supporter of Lester said, “Paul has been a trusted part of the community for 20 years. If anyone deserves the assumption of innocence until proven guilty, it is Paul Lester.”

Lester has resigned his position with Odyssey of the Mind and is currently free on $2,500 bail.