Delco deacon-coach held on child-pornography charges

A church deacon, Sunday school teacher, and basketball coach has been charged with downloading child pornography, the Delaware County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

Steven Daniel Almond, 54, of Parkside, a deacon at Middletown Presbyterian Church, surrendered to police Thursday morning and was being held at the Delaware County jail on $350,000 bail, officials said.

He was charged with disseminating photos and films of "child sex acts" and related crimes, according to public records, which gave the following account:

Investigators traced 11 pornographic "files of interest" to an account used by Almond. When he was contacted by police at his home, Almond said he had files of teenage pornography on his computer, police said. He estimated he downloaded 30 videos of child pornography to his computer with the youngest victim being "13 to 14" years old.

He told police that he did not think it was illegal to download child pornography "because it was free and in the public domain."

Almond, who is a basketball coach in the Upward Bound League, told police he had never had any inappropriate contact with children.

His attorney could not be reached for comment.