Plum man sentenced to 12-24 years on child porn charges

A Plum man was sentenced to 12-to-24 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in Westmoreland County.

Antonio R. Pampena, 37, pleaded guilty before Westmoreland Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to two counts of disseminating photos of child sex acts, 35 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of criminal use of a computer. Bilik-DeFazio agreed to a plea deal worked out between Pampena and the state Attorney General’s office, which includes six years of probation, registering as a sex offender and not using or possessing a computer.

Pampena also must forfeit a seized laptop which contained 35 files of child pornography — 10 still images and 25 videos.

Bilik-DeFazio agreed to allow Pampena’s parents, who were in court, to say goodbye to their son as he was awaiting the elevator with sheriff’s deputies. He was returned to the Westmoreland County Prison until he is placed in a state prison.

The state accused Pampena of sharing child pornography files in December 2018 and January 2019 with agents from the Attorney General’s office who were working out of their North Huntingdon office.

This is the second time Pampena has been imprisoned for possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty in June 2012 in federal court in Pittsburgh and was sentenced to three years in prison, with five years of supervised release.

Prosecutors then said Pampena possessed and accessed more than 1,000 images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct from December 2009 to April 2010.

The FBI and state police investigated that case against Pampena.