Ashville Resident Sentenced to More Than 36 Years in Prison for Production and Possession of Materials Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A resident of Ashville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court to a total of 440 months in prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, on his convictions for production and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

United States Senior District Judge Kim R. Gibson imposed the sentence on Michael Joseph Sollenberger, 41, on March 19, 2024.

According to information presented to the Court, from February 2018 to February 2019, and from January 2019 to January 2020, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Sollenberger produced images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. In addition, in and around June 2020, Sollenberger possessed images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Assistant United States Attorney Arnold P. Bernard Jr. prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Sollenberger.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.