Former Emporium K-9 officer Volker Kiefer was sentenced Tuesday to 3-10 years, to be served in a state correctional institution, for a conviction related to child pornography.
Kiefer entered a guilty plea in July to four counts of sexual abuse of children relating to child pornography, second-degree felonies, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
He was charged in March with four second-degree felony counts and seven third-degree felony counts of child pornography, and one third-degree felony count of criminal use of a communication facility.
The investigation stemmed from a notification from the website Stelivo in August 2020 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of possible child pornography, as five images had been uploaded on five separate instances in the same day, Aug. 30, 2020, by a user later identified as Kiefer.
“Mr. Kiefer held a position of trust and authority in his community. He chose to exploit children, he has been held accountable and he will go to prison,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “My office will never stop in our effort to protect children all across the Commonwealth, and we will bring anyone who preys on children to justice.”
Kiefer, a military veteran, was brought on to the police force in 2015 and was partnered with Novak, the department’s K-9, in 2019. Novak was returned to the Ohio kennel where he was trained when charges were filed against Kiefer and was later gifted to another department who had recently lost their K-9.
