NORRISTOWN — A man from Horsham Township was put in jail after he confessed to accusations of having and sharing child sexual abuse images while using his mobile phone.
Christopher G. Matton, 26, from the 300 block of Easton Road, was given an 11½ to 23-month jail sentence in Montgomery County Court after pleading guilty to multiple charges of sharing child sexual abuse images related to events occurring between June and August 2022.
Judge Virgil B. Walker also directed Matton to complete six years of probation, during which he will be under court supervision for a total of six years.
The judge stated that Matton, who was represented by defense attorney Steven M. Pacillio, must also undergo a psychological evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations.
Furthermore, Matton is subject to a 25-year obligation to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
An inquiry started in August 2022, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from Reddit, an online platform, that one of its users uploaded six images of suspected child sexual abuse, according to the criminal complaint filed by Horsham Township Detective Gloria G. Hatcher.
The images depicted males and females, some as young as under the age of 6, engaged in sexual acts or poses, according to the arrest affidavit.
Detectives traced the internet address to Matton’s Easton Road home in Horsham and went to the residence armed with a search warrant on Nov. 9, 2022. During the search, detectives seized Matton’s cellphone.
“Chris Matton identified the cellphone as belonging to him. A forensic examination was conducted on the cellphone,” Hatcher wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Detectives subsequently determined the cellphone contained more than 100 photos that depicted juveniles and infants in varying states of nudity or engaged in sexual acts or poses, according to court papers.
A charge of criminal use of a communication facility was dismissed against Matton in exchange for his guilty plea to the child pornography charges.
Officials said county detectives, along with specially trained and sworn detectives from police departments countywide, routinely work with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to protect children from internet predators by aggressively and proactively investigating internet crimes that exploit children.
