Lower Merion man admits possessing child porn

NORRISTOWN » A Lower Merion man who admitted to possessing child pornography on home computer equipment faces a lengthy period of court supervision, including some time behind bars.

Richard “Rick” Bushnell, 49, of the 300 block of Hathaway Lane, was sentenced in Montgomery

County Court to seven years of court supervision, including 90 days of jail time over the course of 45 consecutive weekends. The remaining period of supervision will be served during intensive probation. Bushnell will have to comply with all recommendations of a psychosexual evaluation.

The sentence, an agreement between the prosecution and defense, was imposed by Judge Wendy G. Rothstein after Bushnell pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possessing child pornography in connection with a December 2017 incident at his home.

Bushnell also faces a 15-year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.

An investigation of Bushnell began on Dec. 19, 2017, when county detectives received a CyberTip that indicated someone from the Hathaway Lane address downloaded an image of child pornography using a Skype account. Detectives subsequently linked Bushnell to that Skype account.

Detectives obtained a warrant to search Bushnell’s home and seized numerous electronics devices and the devices were analyzed at the FBI Regional Forensics Laboratory, according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective Kathleen Kelly. An analysis of the devices uncovered numerous images of child pornography depicting underage girls, some as young as 6, in various stages of undress, nude or “posed in such a way as to evoke sexual pleasure from the viewer,” Kelly alleged.

When detectives interviewed Bushnell he admitted to living at his residence for six years and to having a Skype account and to using an anonymous name when using Skype or other social media accounts, according to the arrest affidavit.

“Mr. Bushnell also stated he mostly accessed his Skype account while at his residence, chatted with others online and exchanged pornographic photos with others on various social media platforms,” Kelly alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Scott Brittenburg prosecuted the case. Defense lawyer Steven M. Pacillio represented Bushnell.