NORRISTOWN — A man from Montgomery Township is going to prison after admitting to sharing child pornography while living in Upper Moreland Township.
David W. Shull, 44, most recently living on Stafford Circle in Montgomery Township, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 1½ to 3 years in a state correctional institution after pleading guilty to a felony charge of distributing child pornography related to incidents in 2021 in Upper Moreland.
Judge Virgil B. Walker also ordered Shull to serve three years of probation after parole, meaning Shull will be under court supervision for six years.
The judge suggested that Shull be placed at either the State Correctional Institution at Waymart in Wayne County or at the State Correctional Institution at Laurel Highlands in Somerset County for medical reasons.
Additionally, Shull will be required to report his address to state police for 25 years to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
Shull was arrested during an undercover investigation by members of the Pennsylvania State Police Southeast Computer Crime Task Force.
The investigation began when an undercover state trooper found a computer sharing child pornography on April 8, 2021, via a file-sharing network, and subsequently downloaded illegal files from the user, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Dante Poole.
The video showed a young female child, around 3 to 6 years old, engaging in a sexual act with an adult male, according to court documents.
Police traced the internet address of the user to Shull, who was living in the Willow Grove section of Upper Moreland Township at that time.
On May 13, 2021, state police executed a search warrant at Shull’s residence and made contact with him.
“He admitted he has downloaded child pornography multiple times on his personal Samsung Galaxy cellphone,” alleged Poole.
When police initially examined Shull’s cellphone, they found over 100 files showing children under 18 engaging in prohibited sexual content, according to the arrest affidavit.
Later, a more comprehensive analysis of the phone’s content revealed over 700 videos and over 150 images showing children under 18 engaged in prohibited sexual acts or poses, court documents stated. The videos and images depicted children as young as 3 years old, as alleged by police.
The charge of criminal use of a communication facility against Shull was dropped.
Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel handled the case. Defense lawyer Nicholas James Reifsnyder represented Shull during the court proceedings.
