Guilty plea in child porn charges

West Norriton man could be classified as sexually violent predator

COURTHOUSE — A man caught by police viewing child porn in the cargo area of his van parked along a Lower Providence road last year potentially faces a trip to jail.

Terrence John King, 48, of the first block of Potts Avenue, West Norriton, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of sexual abuse of children, possessing child pornography, in connection with an October 2013 incident along Pawlings Road in Lower Providence.

Judge Gary S. Silow deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigativereportaboutKing. ThePennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board also will evaluate King to determine if he meets criteria under the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act 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.

King, who according to court records is a selfemployed contractor, faces a possible maximum sentence of 3½ to 7 years in prison on the charges when he’s sentenced later this year.

An investigation began about 10 p.m. Oct. 3, when Lower Providence police on routine patrol observed a suspicious white Chevrolet Astro van in the parking lot of the Audubon Recreational Field located in the 1200 block of Pawlings Road.

“There was a bluish light coming from the cargo area of the van and there did not appear to be anyone sitting in the front seat,” Lower Providence Police Sgt. Michael Jackson wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding he approached the van on foot to investigate.

As Jackson was approaching the van, a man, subsequently identified as King, got out and nervously engaged Jackson in conversation, according to the arrest affidavit.

“His heart was beating rapidly, his hands trembled, he avoided eye contact and he spoke at a fast pace. King admitted that he was in the cargo area of his van looking at pornography on his laptop computer when I arrived,” Jackson alleged in the criminal complaint.

Jackson observed a laptop computer on the floor of the van’s cargo area and King offered to show the officer the pornography he had been viewing.

“While doing so, I observed that he had two photographs of nude females in their early teens in a picture file,” Jackson wrote.

King then admitted to police “that he is sexually attracted to females as young as fourteen years old and that he has downloaded numerous pornographic images of underage girls on the laptop found in his van,” according to the criminal complaint. King told police that he uses the pornographic photographs of underage females to masturbate and that he is sexually attracted to girls in the beginning stages of puberty, according to the arrest affidavit.

Authorities subsequently seized the com- puter and conducted a forensic examination of its contents. Authorities found numerous pornographic photographs of both adult and juvenile males and females, court papers alleged. The investigation determined there were a total of 14 images of child pornography on King’s computer, according to the arrest affidavit.

Follow Carl Hessler Jr. on Twitter @ MontcoCourtNews.