New child porn charges filed against Milton man

Justin Strawser, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read
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Apr. 16—SUNBURY — A Milton man already facing 1,000 felony counts of child pornography was indicted on new charges of production of child pornography in federal court.

Robert Kohl, 48, of Arch Street, Milton, was originally charged in January with 1,000 felony counts of child pornography after state police said they discovered thousands of images during a search of a borough home. Following a grand jury investigation, United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam issued a media release last week alleging that Kohl produced child pornography four separate times between August 2021 to September 2022; each time is a separate count of production of child pornography.

Kohl is scheduled for an initial appearance and arraignment at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Courtroom 3 in the U.S. Courthouse Federal Building, 240 W. Third St., Williamsport.

The new case was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Alisan V. Martin is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims, according to Karam.

The maximum penalty under federal law for each charge is 30 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The maximum penalty under federal law for the charge of receipt of child pornography is twenty years, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine, according to Karam.

Many of the documents related to the new charges are sealed on the federal docket system.

In the original case, state police alleged they received a tip about child pornography and began an investigation. Troopers said they were granted a search warrant for the Arch Street home and members of the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force discovered a large amount of digital items in an office that belonged to Kohl, according to troopers.

Troopers said thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse materials were present, according to police.

The images depicted infants and toddlers undressed, troopers said.

There were also images that were printed. The printed images were with a file and pay stubs that belonged to Kohl, troopers said.

Kohl was scheduled for a plea hearing last week on these charges in front of Northumberland County Judge Hugh Jones, but the hearing was continued until a later date. A new plea hearing date was not scheduled.