Upper Dublin man admits to possessing child porn

NORRISTOWN » An Upper Dublin man admitted he possessed child pornography and now he awaits his fate from a judge.

Jacob David Weiss, 25, of the 500 block of Dreshertown Road in the Fort Washington section of the township, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to two felony charges of possession of child pornography in connection with incidents that occurred between June and July of 2020. The open plea means Weiss has no deals with prosecutors regarding his potential sentence.

Weiss 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.

Judge Thomas C. Branca deferred sentencing so that Weiss can undergo a sexually violent predator assessment by state officials and a psychosexual evaluation.

Regardless the sentence that Weiss receives, he will have to report his address to state police for 15 years in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender

Registration and Notification Act.

Other charges of criminal use of a communication facility and possession of an instrument of crime are expected to be dismissed against Weiss at time of sentencing in exchange for his guilty plea to the child pornography offenses.

Weiss remains free on bail pending his sentencing hearing.

The investigation began when a detective working with the county’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force located a computer on a peer-to-peer file sharing network that was sharing files identified as child pornography.

The detective was able to directly connect to the computer sharing the files and downloaded nine video files and five photo files from the account at various times, according to a criminal complaint. The files depicted children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts or poses, detectives alleged.

Subscriber information for the internet account that shared the child pornography files was obtained and was traced to Weiss’ residence, according to court papers.

Armed with a search warrant, detectives went to Weiss’ residence on July 9, 2020, and seized a computer tower located in Weiss’ bedroom.

A forensic analysis of the electronic device found that it contained 692 still images and 38 video files that depicted children under the age of 18 years old, including children under 10, in various stages of nudity and involved in sexual acts, according to the criminal complaint.

“Jacob admitted that he is the person who downloaded the files that were obtained by the police,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Prosecutors said detectives from police departments countywide routinely work with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to protect children from internet predators by aggressively and proactively investigating internet crimes that exploit children.

Assistant District Attorney Caroline Goldstein, who is assigned to the district attorney’s Family Protection Unit, is prosecuting the case. Defense lawyer Andrew Joseph Levin represents Weiss.