Democrat councilman Brad Koplinski, 53, pled guilty to 15 felony charges of possessing child pornography in June.
According to a report from Breitbart, Judge William Tully sentenced Koplinsky to 14-30 months in state prison, for the crime of uploading child pornography to the internet, something Koplinsky did at least 35 times.
Koplinsky also admitted to watching this child pornography with groups of men, after introducing these men to the content.
He is a former Democratic politician who served as city councilman and also ran in the 2014 lieutenant Governors race in Pennsylvania, a run which ended abruptly when he lost the Democrat primary.
Koplinsky will have five years of probation and will be registered as a sex offender for 15 years after his release.
“Humiliation is not a negative term. It is a return to humility,” the judge told Koplinsky in court on Monday during the sentencing.
“You have taken humiliation and formed the foundation of recovery,” the judge remarked about the defendants expressions of remorse during the trial.
“I am profoundly sorry,” stated Koplinsky during his hearing. “My participation in this is a scourge on society. I thought the rules didn’t apply to me. I wasn’t special, and I wasn’t smarter than anyone else.”
When explaining why the prosecution pushed for this long sentence and for Koplinsky to be placed in state prison, the prosecutor said the following.
“The commonwealth believed he deserved state prison. For all the letter he can write, remember the letters he cannot write to the victims,” those nameless children who were for to perform sexual acts on camera.
According to the prosecution, the images that Koplinsky uploaded to the internet were not only posted for his own pleasure. He was also trying to garner interest in child pornography from other men. He was a member of a group of adult men who watched pornography together and Kopplinsky would show imagery of older children, then begin showing younger children to see if the group became aroused.
According to Bryan McQuillan, Koplinsky’s lawyer, the man entered inpatient rehab in the fall of 2020 to seek help for his addiction. He claims that the defendant attended hundreds of sessions with sex addicts anonymous, when lobbying for an easier sentence.
“He has owned his issue,” McQuillan said. “He has taken responsibility more than any other client I have had.”
In a shocking choice of words, Charles Koplinsky, the brother of the defendant, had this to say about his brother’s attempts at recovery.
“It is hard to examine yourself and come to terms with what is damaged about you. He is kind, caring and loving. I hope he can continue his work to become a whole person.”
Koplinsky’s wife stood by him for the entire case and even spoke highly about his attempts to reconcile his past transgressions though God and faith.
“You are an extraordinary lady,” Judge Tully said to her.
Koplinksy had prior arrests for trespassing and stealing a press pass at the 2016 Democrat Party National Convention.
By: Goose
Image credit: Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office
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