Former Police Officer Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

The United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Blaine R. Handerhan, a former Mount Carmel Borough Police officer, was sentenced today in federal court before Senior United States District Court Judge William W. Caldwell for possession of child pornography. Judge Caldwell sentenced Handerhan to a 96-month term of imprisonment and ordered that he pay $75,000 in restitution. Handerhan was taken into custody following the sentencing to begin serving his prison sentence.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Blaine R. Handerhan, age 56, of East Pennsboro, Pennsylvania, was indicted in October 2010 and pleaded guilty in October 2011.

The charges against Handerhan stem from an investigation into the distribution of child pornography by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Handerhan was identified by investigators and a search warrant was executed at his residence. His computer was seized and an analysis of it conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police identified 147,070 images and 1,252 video files of child pornography.

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. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James T. Clancy.