Child Porn-Possessing Cop, Montco Man, Sentenced To Prison

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A Montgomery County man and Bucks County police officer who authorities said had a large cache of child pornography has been sentenced to prison.

Matthew Reiss, 48, of Palm in Upper Hanover Township, will spend the next 11.5 to 23 months behind bars after pleading guilty to possessing thousands of images and hundreds of videos.

Reiss was initially arrested and charged back in late May 2022. He is an officer with the Hilltown Township Police Department and has since been placed on administrative leave.

The initial investigation uncovered that Reiss had 10 images of child pornography on his computer, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said.

The more recent forensic examination of Reiss' electronic devices revealed 1,437 more images and 258 video files, including with 84 of the images portraying toddlers and infants, officials said.

Additionally, six of the images portrayed "sadism, masochism, or violence," according to the criminal complaint.

The investigation began back on April 16, 2022 when local detectives received a cyber tip regarding images of child sexual abuse linked to a Google email account in the county.

Police said they traced the IP address and phone number associated with the account back to Reiss.

Investigators said they "found no connection" between the child pornography and Reiss' job as a police officer.

Reiss was also sentenced to five years of probation upon release, court documents show.