Remember that the gravitational pull of a black hole past the event horizon is greater than the speed of light, so no energy can escape once its past the event horizon.

Light is energy (electro-magnetic). The energy is never "destroyed," it just remains at the center (singularity) of a black hole, so it doesn't break the first law of thermodynamics (conservation of energy).

But, the energy of a black hole is slowly emitted away in very small amounts in the form of Hawking Radiation over extremely long periods of time.

-Vince

• Event Horizon: Shedding Light on Black Holes