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September 11, 2009

Cops: W-B Twp. torture suspect left illegal files on laptop

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – Township police said they believe Michael James Sisko forgot to delete several files on a laptop computer he sold at a pawn shop.

The files, police allege, contained child pornography.

On Thursday police charged Sisko, who is accused along with five others in the robbery and torture of two people in early August, with eight counts of child pornography and a single count of criminal use of communication facility. He was arraigned by District Judge Michael Dotzel in Wilkes-Barre Township and jailed at the county prison for lack of $20,000 bail on the latest charges.

Police said Sisko sold a Dell laptop at Main Street Trading Post on South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, on Dec. 31, 2007. The laptop was purchased on Aug. 14, 2008, by a Pittston man who allegedly discovered the child porn while removing unwanted files, police said.

Sisko, 24, was one of six people charged by township police on Aug. 18 in the robbery and torture of two people at his home on Center Street on Aug. 3 and Aug. 4. Police allege a woman and a man were lured to the home to trade liquor for four OxyContin pills.

After the woman arrived, police said in arrest records, she was assaulted and abused. The man claimed that he was beaten with a piece of wood and was forced to hand over $300, according to arrest records.

According to the latest criminal complaint:

A Pittston man purchased the laptop computer at the pawn shop and was in the process of deleting unwanted music files when he discovered the alleged child porn. The man reviewed other files on the laptop that allegedly showed Sisko was the former owner of the computer.

A state police forensic computer investigator inspected the laptop and found several movie files of child porn.

A preliminary hearing on the latest charges is scheduled for Oct. 7. A preliminary hearing on the other charges is scheduled for Sept. 30.

Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.






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