Carbon man admits to child pornography, other counts

A Carbon County man pleaded guilty in the county court on Friday to 10 counts of child pornography and two counts of distribution of child pornography. All the counts are felonies.

Ryan Paul Yanchura, 23, of Nesquehoning, and formerly of Lehighton, entered his pleas before Judge Joseph J. Matika.

He was charged by the office of the Attorney General with a total of 32 counts, including disseminating photos/videos of child sex acts.

Deputy Attorney General Angela Lynn Raver said the computer crimes unit of the AG office filed the charges. She said Yanchura was viewing child pornography, specifically, viewing young children performing sex acts. He also shared the photos/videos with others on the Internet.

Matika told Yanchura, under state sentencing guidelines, he faces a minimum prison term of somewhere between 12 and 24 months on the low end.

The charges fall under the provisions of Megan’s Law. Matika deferred sentencing so the state sexual offenders assessment board can evaluate Yanchura to determine if he is a sexually violent predator. If it is determined that he is, then he will have register for life as a sexual offender. If not, the registration period is 25 years.

Matika also ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report.

Yanchura is currently an inmate in the county prison serving a sentence on other charges and on the instant charges.