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03/24/09 07:15 AM

Ill Amherst man avoids jail in child porn case

LOCKPORT—A seriously ill Amherst man avoided jail time Monday in Niagara County Court for possession of child pornography.

Carl C. Courter, 59, of Hopkins Road, was placed on 10 years’ probation and fined $1,000 by Judge Matthew J. Murphy III. He had pleaded guilty to possession of a sexual performance by a child, a felony with a maxi-mum four- year prison sentence, for downloading porn onto his computer at his former workplace, Anderson Electric in Niagara Falls, in April 2006.

Defense attorney A. Joseph Catalano said Courter needs open-heart surgery and faces biopsies for possible cancer.