Former Harrisburg councilman pleads guilty to 15 counts of possessing child pornography

Former Harrisburg city councilman and Democratic politician Brad Koplinski on Monday pleaded guilty to all 15 counts of child pornography that he was facing and will be sentenced in September.

His open plea came at a 2:30 p.m. hearing inside the Dauphin County Courthouse after seven continuances requested by his defense attorney over the past 18 months.

Koplinski, 52, did not speak at the hearing. He left the building immediately after the plea and will learn his sentence at 10 a.m. on Sept. 12.

Each child pornography conviction could yield 12-24 months in state prison or, a total of 15-30 years in state prison, according to sentencing guidelines, according to Jennifer Gettle, chief deputy district attorney for Dauphin County. To go above or beyond those guidelines, attorneys must show mitigating or aggravating circumstances to justify a deviation.

Ultimately, Dauphin County Court judge William T. Tully will decide Koplinski’s sentence. Tully could choose to sentence some or all of the convictions concurrently, which could drastically reduce the amount of time Koplinski spends behind bars.

Koplinski will be evaluated for Megan’s Law between now and sentencing. Gettle said he will most likely be found to be a non-sexually violent predator, and will have to register with Megan’s Law for fifteen years after he leaves prison.

The child porn charges were filed against him in September of 2020 after an investigation by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified 36 instances of someone uploading photos of child porn or child erotica to the Internet.

Thirty-three of the images were traced to a specific Internet Protocol address in Harrisburg and three images were from another IP address. All internet-capable devices have a unique IP address. Both addresses were registered to Koplinski’s wife, court records said.

A search warrant for Koplinski’s North Second Street home was issued Aug. 19, according to court records. During the search, Koplinski asked to speak to the lead detective and “advised us which electronic items that we would likely find what we were looking for,” according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Detective Clair Martin.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/06/former-harrisburg-councilman-pleads-guilty-to-15-counts-of-possessing-child-pornography.html