Former Erie-area Resident Found Guilty of 8 Counts of Production of Child Pornography

ERIE, Pa. - After deliberating an hour on Thursday afternoon, a federal jury of six men and six women found Scott A. Anthony guilty of eight counts of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Scott A. Anthony, 49, of Pleasantville, PA was tried before United States District Judge David S. Cercone in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold, who prosecuted the case, the evidence presented at trial established that Anthony produced sexually explicit videos depicting two minors. Anthony surreptitiously recorded the two minor victims while they were in the bathroom.

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 (CEOS), 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Judge Cercone scheduled sentencing for March 25, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 240 years in prison, a fine of $2,000,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based on the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Anthony was immediately taken into custody upon conviction.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Millcreek Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Anthony.