CLEARFIELD – A man charged with possessing child pornography has pleaded guilty in Clearfield County Court.
Allen James Pierce, 35, an inmate of the Indiana County Jail, was sentenced to three to seven years in state prison. He was ordered to complete the Project Point of Light program. He is not allowed to have contact with anyone under 18 years of age.
Pierce had been subject to an assessment under Megan’s Law and was found by a member of the sex offender assessment board to be a sexually violent predator. Pierce stipulated to the determination and a hearing was not required on this issue. He must register his address with law enforcement for the rest of his life.
Prior to sentencing, his attorney, Curtis Irwin, told Judge Paul Cherry that Pierce’s actions were not normal or appropriate, but there was no victim in this case. Pierce had a previous indecent assault charge in 1999 and “to him this was better than going out and seeking a victim,” Irwin stated.
Irwin went on to explain Pierce had been abused by both his step-father and a babysitter at a young age, which gives some insight into why he was likely to commit another offense.
Pierce’s criminal record includes several thefts and burglaries, according to court documents and previous Courier-Express articles.
The criminal complaint in the pornography case states that on March 6, a state parole officer notified police that he had discovered Pierce living at a residence in Treasure Lake. The owner of the home located several pictures of child pornography in Pierce’s backpack. The parole officer was able to take Pierce into custody at Perkins where he was working, without incident.
Officers then went to the residence to speak to the owner. She said in January she got a call from Pierce, who was asking for a ride from Big Run to DuBois. He was homeless and needed to go to a homeless shelter and to Manpower to find work, he told her. When she picked him up, he looked like he had been staying in the woods. She felt bad for him because he said he was living in a tent in a park. She bought him some clothes to wear and said he could stay at her home until he made other arrangements. After he got a job at Perkins, she took him to and from work.
At some point, she began to feel suspicious of Pierce as his behavior changed. She found alcohol in his room and empty water bottles that contained a green-colored substance unknown to her. She told him he had to find other living arrangements.
While he was at work, she checked his room. She looked into his backpack and found several pictures of naked, small, pre-pubescent girls. Because she keeps a computer in the spare room where he was staying, she was concerned he had put child pornography on her hard drive. The computer was checked and police were unable to locate any stored or saved pictures of child pornography.