He will serve his time in the local detention center.
Frederick, Md (KM) Sentencing was handed down on Monday to a Monrovia man on child pornography offenses. Joshua Scalera, 36, pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of child pornography. He received 20 years incarceration with all but 18-months suspended.
State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says Scalera will be placed on three-years of supervised probation when he’s released. “Of note is that he had no prior criminal history at all,” says Smith. “And also he’s going to ordered to continue counseling, and as required by statute, register as tier one sex offender for 15 years.”
Scalera was arrested in April, 2018, by Maryland State Police. Troopers served a search warrant on his home, and found devices which contained child pornography.
Smith says the investigation began in October, 2016 after State Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about someone trying to load child pornography on a website. “They were able to begin an investigation, find that Joshua Scalera was collecting child pornography, and he ultimately pled guilty to four counts of that,” he says.
Smith says State is happy with the outcome in this case, stating that child pornography is not a victimless crime. “Possession of child pornography breeds production and manufacturing of child pornography, which means kids are getting violating and they’re getting filmed because of these people have this ravenous appetite for the possession,” he says.
Possession of child pornography is a misdemeanor, but Smith says he wants individuals like Scalera to get some time behind bars. “We don’t take it lightly. We’re glad the judge did not as well. We’re glad that Scalera got his 18-months, year and a half, especially in light of the fact that in other counties, they don’t get jail time,” he says.
He say Scalera will serve his time behind bars at the Frederick County Detention Center.
By Kevin McManus