New Kensington man faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal child porn charges 

A New Kensington man could spend decades in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to distributing child pornography, authorities announced.

Robert Pacek, 51, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Dec. 6, to seven counts of distributing images of children being sexually abused using a website on the Tor network, according to a news release from the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

After investigators got a search warrant for Pacek’s home, they recovered nearly 3,300 images and 119 videos of child pornography on his cellphone.

Pacek was indicted April 5 and is scheduled to appear before Judge William S. Stickman on April 11, 2023 for sentencing.

He faces 15 to 40 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Previous child porn conviction

Pacek also was arrested for child pornography in 2017 while living in the 300 block of Murray Avenue in Arnold. He was charged with nearly 30 child porn counts after he admitted to investigators he exchanged explicit images involving children online, according to court documents.

Pacek told agents with the state Attorney General’s Office that he used Yahoo! Messenger to exchange child pornography. Police also found a laptop he admitted to using for child pornography, according to his arrest papers.

In August 2018, Pacek pleaded guilty to 21 counts of possession of child pornography and a count of criminal use of a communications facility, which all are felonies, according to court records.

He was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison for each of the 21 counts. He also was required to register with the state Megan’s Law database of sexual offenders, court records show.