Man Pleas Guilty To Child Porn Possession In Montco Court: Reports

NORRISTOWN, PA — A Montgomery County man has reportedly pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, and now faces a possible prison sentence in connection with his admission.

Harley R. Strauss, 47, entered a guilty plea earlier this week at Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in connection with a child pornography possession case that dated back to the spring of 2021, according to news reports and court records.

Montgomery County authorities had charged Strauss in April of last year with a total of 100 felony child pornography counts, all of which were waived for trial following a lower court hearing early in the case, the criminal docket sheet in the matter shows.

Records from Common Pleas Court show that the criminal trial was supposed to get underway this week, but Straus apparently decided to plead guilty before trial began.

The Mercury newspaper reported that Strauss on Monday pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges of possessing child pornography, but the docket sheet in the case did not yet appear to be completely updated as of the time of the publication of this story Friday morning.

The news report says that Strauss could face up to 20 years in prison in connection with his guilty plea, but that sentencing guidelines would allow for a much lesser sentence.

Montgomery County authorities and the Cheltenham Township Police Department had announced the charges against Strauss back in late April of last year.

Strauss resides in the Glenside section of Cheltenham.

Investigators with the Montgomery County Detective Bureau said they had received cybertips from Kik Messenger, Twitter and Facebook through the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force relating to 11 images and videos of suspected child pornography, with many of the images and videos depicting children less than 13 years of age, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

Detectives said they were ultimately able to trace the IP address related to each of the three accounts to the defendant's home on South Easton Road in Glenside.

On April 2, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at Strauss' home and seized his cellphone, after which a forensic analysis determined the device had contained 313 images and 73 videos of children under the age of 13 engaged in sexual acts and various stages of undress, the DA's office stated.

Detectives said a total of 218 images out of the total number involved children under 13.

The Mercury reported that Strauss was allowed to remain free on bail pending sentencing, which court records show has been scheduled for Nov. 30 before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas DelRicci.

The court docket shows that DelRicci has ordered Strauss to undergo a sexual offender assessment before sentencing takes place.

Records show that Strauss posted $20,000 unsecured bail following his arrest in April 2021.