AUBURN -- A former Port Byron and Union Springs school district bus driver was sentenced to a promised two to six years in state prison for sending child pornography over the Internet.

Edwin Perrine, 45, of 529 Melone Village, Auburn, was sentenced in Cayuga County Court Tuesday for the felony of promoting a sexual performance of a child.

With his hands folded over his belly, Perrine said he was truly sorry for transmitting images of minors under the age of 17 involved in sexual activity in September 2005. He would not do it again, he said.

Perrine's attorney, Simon Moody, said sickness had driven Perrine to look at such images and that he was undergoing treatment. Perrine also worked around children without incident for close to 20 years, Moody said.

But Chief Assistant District Attorney Jon Budelmann said that incidents in Perrine's workplace were reported to authorities that did not rise to the level of criminal charges but did result in officers taking statements.

Those that believe involvement in child pornography is better than actual child abuse forget that "children in those photos are abused and those who create the demand for photos create a demand for abuse," Budelmann said.

Judge Thomas Leone said Perrine needed help and the community needed to be protected from him.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Citizen.