A Schuylkill County man has been sentenced to 16½ to 33 years in prison for distributing child sexual abuse material across various social media platforms, the Attorney General's Office announced. Joshua Warfel, 36, entered a guilty plea in February to numerous felony charges following an investigation by the Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section. Found guilty of possession and distribution, Warfel will now face a significant amount of time behind bars, revealing a merciless justice system's stance on such heinous crimes against children.
During a court session yesterday, Schuylkill County Judge William L.J. Burke handed down the sentence and mandated that Warfel register as a sex offender for 25 years post-incarceration. Standing on the frontlines of this legal battle, Attorney General Dave Sunday’s team conducted a deep dive into the social underworld where Warfel operated, distributing the illegal material on Facebook, Instagram, and KIK platforms.
With a search warrant executed at Warfel’s Tamaqua residence, they seized electronic devices that housed the incriminating evidence. In a statement detailed by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Sunday remarked, “This convicted sex offender perpetuated abuse against a child each time he intentionally shared vile videos online.”
Senior Deputy Attorney General Michelle Laucella of the Child Predator Section served as the lead prosecutor in this case.
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