Man sentenced on child pornography charges
A local man who entered a guilty plea to possessing child pornography was sentenced Tuesday to spend two years of probation.
Thomas McCort, 68, of South Strabane Township, appeared before Judge Gary Gilman after entering an open plea of guilt to the third-degree felony in June.
McCort’s attorney, Brian McDermott of Pittsburgh, said his client had not previously been in trouble with the law, has taken responsibility for the crime with which he was charged and sought counseling for rehabilitation. Gilman ordered McCort to continue with the counseling program.
McDermott asked that his client, whom he described as diabetic and asthmatic, not be incarcerated due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and that he be allowed to retrieve computer files not related to the criminal case.
According to the criminal complaint, a pornographic image of a child between the ages of 5 and 8 that was uploaded online was traced to McCort’s address.
Police served a search warrant at McCort’s home in October. They alleged the laptop seized from the residence contained more than 1,000 files with child pornography.
As part of McCort’s penalty, the judge ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service during his first year of probation. He is not to be in the company of minors unless he is supervised by an adult.
Assistant District Attorney Dominic Carrola noted that state police requested that the evidence be destroyed.
Because appellate courts have ruled that computer files constitute a personal library, the judge allowed retrieval of non-contraband from McCort’s laptop within 30 days, after which the device can be destroyed or wiped clean and put into service by the district attorney’s office.