Strok
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Possessing methamphetamine benefited a West Pittston man.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court ordered the dismissal of child pornography charges against Paul Strok, 57, due to a 1981 opinion by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court related to separate criminal cases discovered at the same time.
Strok, of Delaware Avenue, was charged when detectives from the Luzerne County district attorney’s office on Oct. 5, 2022, served a search warrant at his residence while investigating suspected downloading and sharing of child sexual abuse materials.
Detectives investigated a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that six videos of suspected child sexual abuse materials that were uploaded were linked to an email and cellular phone number registered to Strok, according to court records.
As detectives were at Strok’s residence being assisted by West Pittston police, suspected methamphetamine was found in his bedroom, court records say.
As a result, Strok was separately charged with dissemination of photo or film of child sex acts, child pornography and criminal use of communication facility by county detectives, and by West Pittston police with possession of a controlled substance.
Strok pleaded guilty to the drug possession charge filed by West Pittston police as he appealed the child pornography case, arguing the the two separate cases should have been one criminal case.
Judge David W. Lupas previously denied to dismiss the child pornography case in June 2023, resulting in Strok’s appeal with the Superior Court.
“As the nature of the offenses, the drug and the child pornography charges involved continuing possessory offenses which consisted of the possession of the methamphetamine and the pornography at precisely the same time,” the Superior Court ruled in a 10-page decision.
The Superior Court noted the 1981 PA Supreme Court opinion in Commonwealth v. Walter Stewart is binding as Strok’s methamphetamine and child pornography possessing arose “from the same criminal episode.”
“We are constrained to reverse,” the Superior Court ruled in dismissing the child pornography case against Strok.
Attorney Robert M. Buttner represented Strok for the appeal.