Ex-church volunteer faces prison in child porn case
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A former Western Pennsylvania church youth worker faces at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced for possessing child pornography, including some depicting adults performing sex acts with infants and violent content including bestiality.
Forty-six-year-old Andrew Patterson, of Monroeville, pleaded guilty in January before a federal judge in Pittsburgh, who will sentence him Thursday.
Patterson was a volunteer who ran a youth ministry with the Living Waters Family Worship Center in Irwin and resigned his position there hours before his arrest in October 2014.
He was first charged by state authorities after an undercover detective allegedly traced porn he found on the Internet to Patterson’s computer.
Federal prosecutors took over the case and indicted Patterson two months later.
Patterson’s public defender has a policy of not commenting to the media.