Abington Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Porn

A 29-year-old Abington man was sentenced this week after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of sexual abuse of children by disseminating a photo/film of a child in sex acts and possessing child pornography, according to a Phillyburbs.com story.

Joseph Andrew Escher, of the 1300 block of Rothley Avenue, was arrested following a search of his residence as part of a Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC) investigation. 

See the initial story on Abington Patch here.

During the Feb. 5 search, police said Escher arrived home; he then gave a voluntary, signed statement admitting to downloading child pornography for a few months and putting it on his computer. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Escher said that his age preference for girls online was pre-pubescent and that he masturbated to the images and videos. 

Police seized a digital hard drive; a laptop computer; two unmarked VHS tapes; and two unmarked CDs.

According to police, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau examined the items seized. Abington Police received the report on March 7.

There were allegedly nine videos and 33 images located on the media. Twenty-five of those images and videos depicted children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts and poses, police said.

Escher entered an “open” guilty plea and will serve 11-and-a-half to 23 months in jail and five years of probation, according to the Phillyburbs.com story. As for Megan's Law, he will receive the sentence after a sexually violent predator evaluation is performed to determine his reporting requirements.