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Chester County Press

Reynolds begins prison sentence for child pornography

09/17/2014 07:13PM ● By Lev

By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

 

Former New Garden supervisor Warren Reynolds began his prison sentence last week, stemming from charges filed against him – and his subsequent arrest – on June 12, 2013, for the possession of more than 500 images of child pornography. The collection included both video and still images, downloaded from the internet, that depicted children as young as 3 engaged in sexual acts with adults and other children.

On Sept. 9, Reynolds, 53, accompanied by his attorney, Vincent DiFabio, at the Court of Common Pleas in West Chester, agreed to a state prison term that will extend from a minimum of two years to a maximum of four years. In March, Reynolds pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual abuse of children – the official term used to define the possession of child pornography.

Initially, Reynolds will serve his term at the Chester County Prison for about two weeks,  and then be transported upstate for classification, either to Graterford or Camp Hill Prison. After an evaluation, he will be assigned to a permanent location where he will serve the rest of his sentence.

Following his release, Reynolds will serve a court supervised probation period of four years, and any computer use he will have will be restricted to business and banking functions only.

At his initial hearing before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Seavey in 2013, Reynolds was charged with sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He was freed after posting 10 percent of a $1 million bail set by Seavey. After posting bail, Reynolds underwent a psychological assessment by the Sexual Offender's Assessment Board. It was revealed through the assessment that Reynolds was not determined to be a sexually violent predator, and as a result, will not be announced in the community as one, under the regulations stipulated under Megan's Law. Following his prison sentence, Reynolds will be required to register as a sex offender with the Pennsylvania State Police.

The investigation of Reynolds began on April 22, 2013, when a computer technician performed a service repair to Reynolds' home computer. During the repair, the technician found hundreds of child pornography images on the computer. Soon after, the technician reported his findings to the Pennsylvania State Police, who then conducted a search at Reynolds' home.

Police seized a Dell Dimension 2400 desktop from the home office, a Seagate external hard drive linked to the home office computer, an older model Gateway 2000 desktop computer from the third floor loft of the home, a Dell Inspiron 5000E laptop computer from the home's basement, one roll of 35-mm film from the home office, two rolls of 35-mm film from the loft, four printed images from the loft, 33 three-inch floppy discs and 11 recordable disks bearing titles indicative of child pornography, a Sony Handycam from the home office, numerous VHS tapes from the basement and loft, and reels of film and photo slides from the basement. A pair of children's underwear was also found in a box in the loft.

Since the time of Reynolds' arrest, there has been a misconception that the video camera, rolls of film, VHS tapes and reels of film taken from the basement of the home contained child pornography or were used to produce child pornography.

“That is completely erroneous,” said DiFabio. “At his sentencing, both Mr. Reynolds and I, as well as Deputy District Attorney Deborah Ryan, agreed that none of those items seized had anything to do with child pornography. These items were seized by police so that they could be analyzed, but they were found to be used for family holidays, vacations and birthday parties only.  The only child pornography that was found, Mr. Reynolds downloaded on his computer and viewed in his home.”

All recording and video equipment and personal photos, slides and VHS tapes originally seized from the Reynolds home will be returned to the family, DiFabio said.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].