A Butler man pleaded guilty Thursday in Butler County Common Pleas Court to possessing child pornography last year after he was found to be a sexual offender under Megan’s Law for a similar offense in 2017.
Jay W. Flagg, 64, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child pornography and was ordered to undergo a sexual offender assessment for the most-recent incident that Butler City police allege to have occurred Sept. 3.
He entered his plea through video conferencing from the county prison, where he is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Judge Timothy F. McCune said he would sentence Flagg after his assessment is completed.
Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Simon asked McCune to sentence Flagg to serve 36 to 72 months in state prison concurrently with 121 months of probation.
Public Defender Joseph Leonard Smith said the charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Flagg was on parole when a state parole agent noticed a flash drive stick protruding from under a mattress during a home check, police said.
The agent contacted police, who interviewed Flagg. He admitted to having more than 100 child pornography images on the flash drive, police said.
The drive contained 810 images, Simon said.
At that time, Flagg had been deemed a Tier II offender under Megan’s Law in 2017.
A Tier II offender is required to register with state police and report their address, vehicle ownership, phone and electronic addresses and other information for 25 years.
