Jonathan Alexander Masters, a 28-year-old Oil City man, was sentenced to up to 50 years in prison on child pornography charges after pleading guilty to five counts in May. Masters was originally charged in March with 457 counts of child pornography, two counts of criminal use of a communication facility, and one count of disseminating film of child sex acts, with most charges dropped as part of a plea agreement. The investigation began in March 2021 when Pennsylvania State Police received cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child sexual abuse material uploaded to Dropbox and later disseminated through the messaging app Kik, with the youngest victim depicted being approximately 4 to 5 years old. A January search warrant executed at Masters’ residence on Halyday Run Road resulted in the seizure of three devices, two of which contained 457 files of child sexual abuse material, and Masters confessed to sending and receiving such materials for years. Venango County President Judge Matthew T. Kirtland imposed consecutive sentences totaling two to 50 years and ordered Masters to register under Megan’s Law.
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