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New Kensington man sentenced to prison for possessing thousands of child porn photos

WPXI - Westmoreland County map Westmoreland County map (WPXI/ Cox Media Group)

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — A New Kensington man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for child exploitation charges.

Robert Pacek, 52, was convicted of conspiracy to receive and distribute, as well as distribution and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

According to the Department of Justice, Pacek was an active participant in a chat room on a network that was dedicated to the discussion and exchange of child pornography. He was active in the chat room while he was on probation for a previous state conviction of possession of child sex abuse material.

Officials said Pacek distributed five images depicting the sexual exploitation of young girls on Feb 28, 2021. He later admitted to accessing the network using his neighbor’s router and sharing links to the material.

Police found 100 videos and 3,000 images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, including more than 100 images showing the abuse of toddlers or infants, on Pacek’s cell phone.

The judge explained that there is no more important government interest than “the protection of the innocence, safety and integrity of our children.” He also said that Pacek played more than a “passive role” in distributing images, noting that Pacek made “callous” comments when posting these images, and regularly greeted new members to the chat room

The judge also said that there is “no crime more serious in our district than the violation of the innocence of toddlers.”

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