Man sentenced for possessing child porn
A Skippack man gets probation after admitting to possessing child pornography on his home computer.
NORRISTOWN » A 54-year-old Skippack man will be under court supervision for several years after admitting to charges he possessed child pornography on his home computer equipment.
William Adam Davis, of the 4700 block of Perkiomen Creek Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to seven years probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge of sexual abuse of children, possessing child pornography, in connection with incidents that occurred in September 2016. Judge Todd D. Eisenberg said Davis must continue with the counseling and treatment program that he has already begun and must abide by all recommendations.
The judge said Davis will be under sex offender supervision by probation officials during his period of supervision. Davis also is prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with minors, the judge said.
“If you violate and I see you here again I will send you to jail. This stuff is reprehensible,” Eisenberg sternly addressed Davis.
“You won’t see me again,” Davis responded to the judge.
The judge said he considered the probationary term for Davis because Davis admitted to the crime and had sought treatment.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Brittenburg sought a jail term for Davis while defense lawyer A. Charles Peruto argued for leniency on behalf of Davis.
An investigation of Davis began Sept. 4, 2016, when an undercover East Norriton detective, working with county detectives and the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, located a computer that was eventually linked to Davis that was allegedly sharing files of interest in child pornography investigations.
When the detective directly connected to the computer he was able to electronically download 73 files, a combination of photos and videos, according to the criminal complaint.
Upon review, 24 files were determined to depict children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts and/or sexually explicit poses, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele alleged at the time of Davis’ arrest. The investigation traced the computer to the defendant’s home, prosecutors alleged.
On Oct. 5, detectives, armed with a search warrant, went to Davis’ home and Davis agreed to be interviewed by authorities, court papers indicate. In his statement, Davis admitted to using a file sharing network to view child pornography, according to the arrest affidavit.
Davis, who is married, told detectives he knew it was illegal to keep child pornography but claimed he did not know it was illegal to view it, according to the criminal complaint.