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Press Release

Pittsburgh-area Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Distributing Pornographic Images of Children

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH, PA - A suburban Pittsburgh resident has been sentenced in federal court to 60 months of imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release on his conviction of distribution of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.

United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy imposed the sentence on Scott Kaercher, 28, of Pittsburgh, PA (Whitehall).

According to information presented to the court, Kaercher was a member of a group called “Anything Goes” on the LIVEME application, and the members shared an interest in child pornography. The FBI had an undercover employee monitoring the application, and the undercover employee engaged in an online chat with Kaercher, who indicated he had a sexual interest in children. On December 10, 2019, Kaercher uploaded a child pornography video to the members of Anything Goes. A subsequent search warrant resulted in the recovery of Kaercher’s mobile phone, which contained thousands of images of child pornography, including images of prepubescent children and sadistic and masochistic conduct. After imposing sentence, Judge Hardy revoked Kaercher’s bond and ordered that he be taken into custody to begin his sentence.

Assistant United States Attorney Lee J. Karl prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting United States Attorney Kaufman commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Kaercher.

Updated June 24, 2021

Topic
Project Safe Childhood