A Man Who Caught The Eye Of Authorities For Filming Cheerleaders Is Guilty Of Child Porn

LANSDALE, PA — A borough man was recently convicted of possessing child pornography, with the investigation into his activities beginning with parents calling the police about him filming cheerleaders at a local school.

Eric Roland Swenson, 53, of the 100 block of Susquehanna Avenue in Lansdale, was convicted recently during a bench trial at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas on child pornography possession and criminal use of a communication facility, according to media reports and court records.

The guilty verdict followed a two-day bench trial before Montgomery Common Pleas Court Judge Henry S. Hilles, III.

Swenson was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Institution pending sentencing, according to a story in the Reporter newspaper of Lansdale.

Court records show that Swenson was found guilty on Dec. 6 on the two felony counts, but he had initially been charged with a whole host of other counts relating to the child porn possession. Many of those charges were dismissed prior to trial.

Swenson was represented by Norristown-based attorney Nicholas Reifsnyder. The case was prosecuted by Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Soreth.

Records show that sentencing has been set for March 3, 2022. The judge deferred sentencing so court employees conduct a pre-sentencing background investigation on Swenson.

The case began back in the spring of 2019, when Lansdale police officers were sent to a Catholic school on East Main Street for a report of an adult man making other people feel uncomfortable, according to the story in the Reporter newspaper.

Parents reportedly told authorities that Swenson appeared to be filming students on the cheerleading squad even at times when his own daughter was not participating in events, according to the Reporter.

Investigators ultimately found hundreds of images of child pornography on Swenson's cellphone, as well as more than 6,000 known images of child pornography on his computer and hard drive, the Reporter stated.

Swenson was subsequently arrested.