SMETHPORT — A Bradford man has pleaded guilty to allegations he possessed child pornography.
Eliot P. Abrams, 31, of Bradford, entered the plea Thursday in McKean County Court to all six charges against him, which includes two counts of dissemination of child pornography, three counts of possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
According to District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer, between May 25 and Oct. 11, he uploaded two pornographic images to a website, which both showed a girl who appeared to be between 8 and 10 years old involved in a sex act with an adult male. Also during that time, he had three video files on his computer of young girls engaged in sex acts: one showed a girl who appeared to be between 8 and 10, a second had a girl who appeared to be between 5 and 7 and a third had a girl who appeared to be between 10 and 12.
The district attorney filled in on Thursday for a representative of the Attorney General’s Office, which filed the charges against Abrams.
Abrams’ attorney, Philip Clabaugh, said there is no plea agreement, and he discussed with Abrams “at great length that there’s no sentencing recommendation.”
When there is a plea agreement, it offers defendants an idea of what kind of sentence they face. While a judge does not have to follow the sentence in the agreement, a defendant may withdraw his or her plea if the judge strays from the agreement.
President Judge John Pavlock noted that Abrams will have to register as a sex offender, and he will have to undergo a sexually violent sex offender evaluation.
Abrams will be sentenced March 16. He is incarcerated in McKean County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Court records filed at the time of Abrams’ arrest indicated he uploaded to Chatstep.com an image of child pornography on May 25 and another one on May 26. Abrams was charged Oct. 11, the same day law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at his Bushnell Street, Bradford, apartment.