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WILKES-BARRE — Joe Dowd’s admitted pornography addiction has taken its toll, straining his bond with his family and landing him in shackles for possessing images of naked children while on probation for filming women in a restaurant bathroom.
“This is not me. This is not who I am,” Dowd, 41, said at his sentencing in the cases Wednesday. “This will not happen ever again.”
But Luzerne County Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. said he had heard Dowd make similar promises when he stood before him in 2013, after Dowd admitted to recording co-workers at an Avoca restaurant.
“It seems to me you should have had these revelations back then,” Sklarosky said. “The new arrests demonstrate to me that you’re not amenable to supervision at this point.”
Dowd, of Duryea, was sentenced to 2½ to five years on the 2013 case and an additional year on his latest charges involving images of two naked girls between 9 and 15 years old. He must register for life as a sexual offender.
Dowd’s mother, Josephine, whose laptop Dowd used to download the images, asked that her son receive leniency so he could continue to receive treatment and ultimately re-enter society.
“We just want him to get the help he needs,” she said, fighting through tears.
Before he was sentenced, Dowd apologized for affecting his family with his “stupid actions.” He said he is a non-violent man who attended Catholic school and college, but acknowledged he “did wrong.” Dowd asked that Sklarosky show him mercy for his sake and for the sake of his mother and father.
“I am so sorry for what I’ve done,” he said.
Prosecutors with the Luzerne County District Attorney and state Attorney General said Dowd’s previous crimes exploited women. His latest, they said, exploited children.
Both offices received cyber tips on Dowd and pursued charges, they said. They asked that Sklarosky impose the previously agreed upon sentence of 2½ to five years in state prison, which they deemed “appropriate” based on the seriousness of the crimes.
Dowd was initially sentenced to probation in the 2013 case, but it was revoked following his arrest on the child pornography charges earlier this year. County prosecutor Rachael Pugh said she left re-sentencing in the 2013 case up to Sklarosky’s discretion.
In that case, Dowd pleaded guilty to invasion of privacy and unsworn falsification to authorities after one of Dowd’s female co-workers at Romano’s Pizza Pasta & Subs in Avoca found a cell phone recording video after she used the bathroom.
Dowd initially denied wrongdoing and allowed investigators to examine the phone. They later determined he deleted the video, which was restored following a forensic analysis. Confronted with the information, Dowd admitted to recording his co-workers over a one-month period.
He said at the time he was receiving treatment for a pornography addiction.
While on probation, Dowd was arrested in February for possessing child pornography.
Dowd said child pornography calmed him down, but that he had been addicted to adult pornography most of his life. Dowd told investigators his problem was “killing his family” and admitted he needed help.