A Blakely man will spend up to 52 years in prison after being sentenced on charges of possession of child pornography and indecent assault following a bench trial earlier this year, Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher announced Monday.
Blakely police arrested Keith Dodgson last year after an investigation into the sexual assault of a 38-year-old woman who suffers from a mental disability, Gallagher said.
“Sexually assaulting a person with a mental disability is a predatory act that exploits the most vulnerable among us,” Gallagher said. “These victims deserve not only our protection, but the full force of justice.”
During a forensic analysis of a laptop computer, Lackawanna County detectives found 88 files of children under the age of 18 engaged in prohibited sexual acts, Gallagher said.
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Judge Andy Jarbola sentenced Dodgson to 25 to 50 years for the charges of possession of child pornography and 12 to 24 months for the charge of indecent assault, Gallagher said. Dodgson, 67, also must serve three years of supervised probation after being released from prison.
As part of the sentence, Jarbola designated Dodgson as a sexually violent predator requiring quarterly registration for life with the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Registration and Notifications Act (SORNA), Gallagher said.