Two Montco men face child porn charges after unrelated stings

Two Montgomery County men were arrested in unrelated stings Thursday for allegedly possessing child pornography and sharing it online.

Joseph Sowers, 31, of Hatfield Township, is accused of downloading and distributing child porn through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, according to a news release from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

Undercover agents investigating the online distribution of child pornography found a graphic image depicting a child under the age of 6 and traced the IP address associated with the file to Sowers' home on Jean Drive, prosecutors said.

A search warrant executed at the home allegedly turned up a computer with multiple images of child pornography.

In an unrelated incident, 39-year-old Brian Tiberio, of Pottstown, was taken into custody after an undercover investigation into a file-sharing network led agents to execute a search warrant at his Manatawny Street home.

There, investigators found multiple images of child pornography on a computer belonging to Tiberio, according to prosecutors.

Sowers and Tiberio are each charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Both men were jailed in the Montgomery County Prison after being unable to post bail, which a judge set at $50,000 for each.

Sowers is next due in court Feb. 12 for a preliminary hearing, and Tiberio is slated to make an appearance Feb. 9.

The arrests came as part of an ongoing effort to target the distribution of child pornography online, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Suspected child predators can be reported to the office through the Child Predator Hotline, 1-800-385-1044, or by texting an anonymous tip and the keyword PAKIDS to 847411.