Ex Main Line Pol Facing Child Porn Charges To Appear In Court

The former Main Line commissioner who is facing more than 100 counts of child pornography-related charges is scheduled to appear in a Delaware County court Thursday.

Former Radnor Township Commissioner Phil Ahr, 66, is slated for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Nov. 30 with Magisterial District Judge David H. Lang.

Ahr, who is free on 10 percent of $100,000 bail, is facing 10 counts of disseminating child pornography, 50 counts of child pornography possession, 60 counts of criminal use of a communication facility, and 10 counts of attempted dissemination of child pornography, court records show. All of these charges are felonies.

He was to appear for the hearing on Oct. 26, but that was continued to Nov. 30. Thursday's hearing could be continued as well.

Ahr, of the Rosemont section of the township, was arrested Oct. 11 by Delaware County authorities following an announcement of a county-led investigation of unknown origin targeting Ahr in late September.

>>>RELATED: Radnor Commissioner Mentored Kids Before Child Porn Charges

He then resigned as the Radnor Township Board of Commissioners president, a position he was elected to in July 2017. However, he maintained his seat as the township's Ward 7 commissioner.

Then in early November, Ahr resigned his role with the board entirely, leaving his seat vacant.

More news on the Ward 7 seat vacancy:

• Radnor Commissioners Fail To Elect New President After Ahr Resigns
  
• Radnor Seeking Interim Ward 7 Commissioner
  
• Party Lines Keep Radnor's Ward 7 Seat Vacant

County officials began investigating Ahr on Aug. 31, the DA's office said.

That day, investigators learned from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone, later identified as Ahr, uploaded and shared images of suspected child pornography through a Yahoo Messenger account, according to the DA's office.

That same day, a subpoena was issued to Verizon requesting the subscriber of the IP address, which was revealed to be Ahr's IP address, the DA's office said.

Then on Sept. 21, authorities executed a search warrant on Ahr's Radnor home, the DA's office said.

Ahr was home and spoke with detectives, telling them he had been "sexting" online with people and that the purpose of the chats was sexual in nature, the DA's office said.

According to Ahr, he used Yahoo Messenger to "sext" with unknown individuals, which involved sexual talk about children, the DA's office said.

Ahr also told detectives that during one of these conversations, an unknown person sent him about one dozen child pornography images of girls who Ahr estimated to be approximately 13 years-old, the DA's office said.

Some of the images involved female children engaging in sex acts with adult males, according to the DA's office.

Ahr admitted to detectives that he sent and received images of child pornography to and from an individual he was chatting with, according to the DA's office.

The DA's office said Ahr stated, "obviously I knew the images were illegal and don't know how I could say otherwise."

Investigators found video and numerous graphic images depicting children engaged in sex acts, as well as numerous chat logs between in which Ahr shared and sought graphic images and videos of children in sexual positions, bondage and engaged in sex acts with adults, the DA's office said.

Authorities also found more than 1,000 web links to pornographic images, some including child pornography, according to the DA's office.

Two computers in Arh's home had Excel spreadsheets on them which appeared innocuous. However, it was later discovered that the spreadsheets contained more than 1,000 web site addresses, hundreds of which were still active and contained child pornography, the DA's office said.

Of those website, investigators found more than 500 images and videos of child pornography, mostly showing minor children being sexually abused by adult males and females, the DA's office said.

According to the DA's office, Ahr's collection was mainly comprised of prepubescent girls under the age of 10 years, but also included infants and toddlers.

A portion of the images and videos depicted sado-masochistic sexual abuse, and children being sexually abused by animals, according to the DA's office.

Image via Delaware County District Attorney's Office