The Smethport man claiming to be pastor who had previously attempted to reject a plea deal after claims of assisting law enforcement with a child porn investigation has been sentenced.
65-year-old Daniel Walter Merrick was charged with possessing 698 images/videos of prepubescent children with 499 of those also depicting indecent contact.
Merrick had a full hearing to investigate his claims that he was investigating Ukrainian and Russian children who are victims of child pornography, however no further evidence regarding the alleged law enforcement agency Merrick claimed to have reported the pornography to was provided.
Merrick has now been sentenced to 46 to 92 months in state prison and 3 years of consecutive probation.
Merrick was also ordered to submit a DNA sample and resister as a sex offender.
He is not eligible for any early parole program.