Suspect pleads guilty to child porn charges
A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty to counts of dissemination and possession of child pornography Wednesday in Fayette County Court. In exchange for his plea, Nicholas Scott Parkhill of California will serve three to 23 months in the county prison, but could serve time on the intermediate punishment program if he is deemed an appropriate candidate.
The intermediate punishment program is a probationary type program that generally includes house arrest.
Parkhill, who told Judge Nancy D. Vernon that he is a college senior, was charged after state police found files that contained child pornography on his computer.
Police said he was using Gnutella, a file-sharing program, to download and disseminate the porn. Parkhill, represented by Assistant Public Defender David Kaiser, admitted doing so during his court appearance.
In addition to the sentence, District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. said Parkhill will be required to undergo a Megan’s Law assessment to determine if he is a sexually violent predator and perform community service.
Additionally, the sentence calls for his computer to be forfeited.
Vernon ordered the evaluation, and will sentence when it is complete.
She noted that the maximum sentence for each of the felony charges was seven years in prison.