Upper Moreland man faces jail for possessing child porn

NORRISTOWN » An Upper Moreland man is on his way to jail after he admitted to possessing child pornography.

Jonathan Gary Lee, 34, of the first block of Fitzwatertown Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 10 to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of sexual abuse of children possessing child pornography in connection with incidents that occurred in January 2017. Judge Gail A. Weilheimer also ordered Lee to complete three years’ probation following parole, meaning Lee will be under court supervision for about five years.

The judge ordered Lee to report to the jail on June 22 to begin serving the sentence. Lee is eligible for the jail’s work release program during his incarceration.

Lee will have to report his address to state police when he’s released from jail. The judge ordered Lee to comply with all treatment recommendations from counseling providers.

An investigation of Lee began on Jan. 5 when detectives conducting Internet investigations to identify those possessing or sharing child pornography identified a computer, linked to Lee, which was sharing files of suspected child porn, according to a criminal complaint filed by Abington Detective Rick Beaghley.

Between Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, detectives were able to make a direct connection to Lee’s computer and successfully download three image or video files that depicted children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual poses or acts.

Detectives subsequently obtained a warrant to search Lee’s home and they went there on Jan. 26, according to court papers.

“Lee explained to us that he was the person responsible for the child pornography, which he used his desktop computer in the basement to download them,” Beaghley alleged in the arrest affidavit. “Lee admitted to downloading child pornography from the Internet to his computer, and using search terms commonly associated with child pornography files.”

Lee allegedly told detectives he would masturbate to the child pornography files and then delete them.

“He further stated that he has been downloading child pornography for three or four years,” Beaghley alleged.

When detectives conducted a forensic examination of Lee’s computer they located 19 files of child pornography, according to arrest documents.