What do you think of when you hear the words "sexual abuse of children"? You may be surprised to learn that Pennsylvania prosecutors are willing to arrest someone for sexual abuse of children and possession of child pornography, even if that person was simply surfing the web and searching for words like "teen" and "17 y.o.".

This may sound farfetched, but it is exactly what happened to a Pennsylvania man. Criminal investigators found a computer IP address that they believe pointed to someone searching for child pornography. The investigator is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose mission is to track down what the group considers suspicious activity on the Internet.

In this instance, the investigator tracked the IP address to a woman in Morton, Pennsylvania. A resident in the home, a 28-year-old man, allegedly confessed to searching the Internet for the words described above. His computer was confiscated and investigators inspected its hard drive.

Last year, the man, who is a member of the Army, was charged with 15 counts of abuse for possessing child pornography, eight counts of abuse for disseminating child pornography, and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

More recently, he pleaded no contest to one count of sexual abuse of children for disseminating child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communications facility. He was also ordered to take a psychosexual exam and submit to an assessment by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board.

It is important to remember that pleading no contest does not assign guilt to the accused man. It simply means that he was not willing to go to trial and risk the possibility of a court finding him guilty on the multiple charges. In this way, his sentencing, which is set for November 21st, will be less than it could potentially have been if he had gone to trial.

Regardless, this case serves as an important reminder that investigators will use even the smallest detail to track down people they suspect of internet sex crimes. Anyone who has been accused of such crimes should speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney.

Source: delconewsnetwork.com, "Morton man enters no contest plea in child-porn case," Alex Rose, Sept. 6, 2011