News

March 12, 2010

West Pittston man gets 11 years for child porn

Times Leader staff

SCRANTON – A West Pittston man who was charged with possessing 279 images of child pornography was sentenced Thursday to more than 11 years in federal prison.

John A. Patterson, 50, was arrested in November 2008 based on an investigation conducted by officers with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The charges against Patterson were initially filed in state court by Luzerne County detectives, but the case was later transferred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecution. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2009 on a charge of sexual exploitation of minors.

Police raided Patterson’s home on Luzerne Avenue on Nov. 6, 2008, based on a tip that Patterson had uploaded numerous sexually explicit images involving children. Authorities seized a computer, 80 video tapes, 77 camcorder tapes and 60 flash drives during the search.

Patterson pleaded guilty in November to a single count of sexual exploitation of minors. He appeared before U.S. District Judge James Munley on Thursday.

Munley sentenced Patterson to 135 months in prison followed by lifetime supervision by the U.S. Probation Office.

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