Probation Given In Montco Child Pornography Case: Reports

NORRISTOWN, PA — A Montgomery County judge has reportedly sentenced a Horsham Township man to seven years' probation in connection with a child pornography conviction earlier this year.

John William Coleman, 38, of the 700 block of Lower State Road, was handed sentence this week by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas C. Branca, according to local news reports.

Coleman had been found guilty of child porn possession during a bench trial before Branca back in April, Patch previously reported.

Related: Montgomery County Man Convicted Of Possessing Child Pornography

The Mercury newspaper reported this week that in addition to the seven-year court supervision, Branca also ordered Coleman to continue with sex offender treatment and to not have any unsupervised contact with minors.

The criminal docket sheet in the case did not yet appear to be completely updated at the time of the publication of this story.

Coleman reportedly also faces a requirement to report his address to Pennsylvania State Police for the next 15 years in order to comply with Pennsylvania's Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Court records in the case show that the bench trial before Branca began on April 26 and appeared to only last a day before the judge found Coleman guilty of 10 felony child pornography possession counts and one felony count of criminal use of a communications facility.

The investigation into Coleman's activities dated back to 2019 when county investigators received a tip that a social media user had uploaded suspected images of child pornography, specifically images that depicted girls as young as 10 to 14, engaged in various sexual situations.

The social media account was ultimately traced to Coleman.

The docket sheet in the case shows that charges were initially filed by Montgomery County Detectives in March 2020.

Sentencing appeared to have been deferred pending the outcome of a pre-sentencing investigation ordered by the judge, the record shows.

Court records show that Coleman was represented by Lansdale-based defense attorney Marc Robert Steinberg.