Wilkes-Barre man pleads no contest to possessing child sexual abuse materials
Sep. 19—WILKES-BARRE — A man from Wilkes-Barre did not contest allegations he possessed and shared child sexual abuse materials.
Jared M. Pieck, 34, of North Empire Street, was scheduled for trial this week before Judge David W. Lupas on multiple counts of child pornography.
Instead, Pieck pleaded no contest to two counts of dissemination of children engaged in sex acts and 42 counts of possession of child pornography.
Pieck was arrested by detectives with the district attorney's office and West Hazleton police, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and state police Northeast Computer Crime Unit, in March after a search warrant was served at his residence.
Detectives served the search warrant while investigating a cyber tip generated by Snapchat in August 2022, and a cyber tip by Google in January linked to emails registered to Pieck.
The cyber tips involved uploaded and downloaded images of semi-nude girls, according to court records.
Court records say Pieck admitted to downloading images of child sexual abuse materials for self-gratification.
While detectives searched Pieck's residence, canine Spike, training in finding electronic devices, discovered a cellular phone that allegedly had 38 images and a laptop computer that had three images of child sexual abuse materials, court records say.
Lupas ordered an evaluation of Pieck by the state's Sexual Offender Assessment Board.
Pieck is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 13.
Assistant District Attorney Carly Levandoski prosecuted.
