Willow Grove man admits possessing child porn

NORRISTOWN » A Willow Grove has admitted to possessing child pornography on his home computer equipment and potentially faces going to jail.

Andrew Jonathan Liebman, 27, of the 3500 block of Bartram Road, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Friday to charges of sexual abuse of children possessing child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred between October and November 2016. Judge William R. Carpenter deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Liebman.

Liebman, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of 13½ to 27 years in prison on the charges. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for less jail time.

Liebman, who is represented by Newtown defense lawyer Louis R. Busico, also faces an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which will determine if he meets criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Those classified as predators face more stringent restrictions under the law, including a lifetime requirement to report their addresses to state police and community notification about their residency.

Liebman’s arrest followed an investigation that began Oct. 30, 2016, when Abington Township Detective Rick Beaghley, who investigates Internet crimes against children, located a computer “sharing files of interest in child pornographic investigations,” according to the criminal complaint. By directly connecting to the host computer sharing the files, Beaghley was able to download “366 image files and 24 video files of interest in child pornography investigations,” according to the arrest affidavit.

The files depicted children under 18 “engaged in sexual acts and/or poses,” some as young as 6, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators traced the host computer to Liebman’s home and, after obtaining a search warrant in November, police seized Liebman’s computer, on which were found seven video files and five images as well as file fragments commonly associated with child pornography, court documents indicate.

Liebman, who was at home with his wife when detectives showed up, admitted to downloading the child pornography from the Internet onto his computer.

“Liebman stated that he deleted the majority of the child pornography files right away after viewing them but saved two or three videos until he deleted them later, because he got curious,” Beaghley wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding Liebman admitted to masturbating to the child porn files that he downloaded.