Phoenixville man admits possessing child porn in Upper Merion
NORRISTOWN >> A Phoenixville man is free on bail while awaiting his fate from a judge after he admitted to possessing child pornography on a computer at his Upper Merion workplace.
Joseph Anthony Conroy, 64, of the 300 block of High Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to charges of possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with incidents that occurred in early 2018 in Upper Merion.
Judge Richard P. Haaz deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report, including drug and alcohol evaluations, about Conroy.
Conroy, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of 7-to-14-years in prison on the charges. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.
Regardless of the sentence he receives, Conroy 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 Conroy by state police began in January 2018 after Conroy’s employer “became aware that Conroy had been accessing child exploitation material on a company owned laptop through the company’s network,” according to a criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Mark Gibble, a member of the computer crime unit.
“The company reviewed Conroy’s browsing history and discovered frequent access to child exploitation content and specific keywords indicative of child exploitation content,” Gibble alleged in the arrest affidavit.
The company for which Conroy worked was located in the 200 block of Mall Boulevard in Upper Merion, but the specific identity of the company was not revealed in court documents.
Armed with a search warrant, investigators went to Conroy’s workplace on Feb. 6, 2018, and seized his company-issued laptop computer. At that time, Conroy allegedly stated he knew authorities were there because of the “pictures,” according to the arrest affidavit.
“He explained that he has been addicted to looking at inappropriate images for quite a while,” Gibble alleged. “He stated that it was ‘admittedly very wrong.’”
Conroy, according to court papers, told investigators he used various search engines to search for images while at work.
“He stated that he figured he would get caught at some point,” Gibble alleged.
When authorities examined the computer, they found at least 20 images that depicted child pornography, including images of naked females between the ages of 1 and 11 engaged in sexual acts with adults or in sexual poses, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police alleged they uncovered approximately 500 “other images of child erotica material” while examining Conroy’s work computer.
The federal Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, also took part in the investigation, court papers indicate.