A State College man was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.
Jeffrey Stormer, 64, was ordered to serve eight years and one month in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release. U.S. Middle District of Pennsylvania Judge Matthew Brann recommended that Stormer serve the sentence at a federal prison in Devens, Massachusetts for inmates requiring specialized or long-term medical care.
Stormer is also required to pay $9,000 in restitution, participate in sex offender treatment programs while incarcerated and to register as a sex offender upon his release.
He pleaded guilty in December to charges of distributing child sexual abuse material in January 2023 and possessing child sexual abuse material from April 2022 to February 2023.
Following an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, an analysis of a computer seized from Stormer’s home uncovered a shareable folder containing approximately 8,000 images and 250 videos of children in explicit positions or engaged in sexual acts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The folder was transmitted to an online platform more than 900 times, prosecutors said in a news release.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Gerald Lord had sought the mandatory minimum of five years in prison for Stormer, writing in a sentencing memorandum that his client is “living on borrowed time.” Stormer has type 1 diabetes, end-stage renal failure requiring regular dialysis and other medical issues.
Lord added that Stormer had no prior criminal record and has been under pre-trial supervision without problems.
“As an insulin-dependent diabetic with end-stage renal failure, Mr. Stormer’s survival depends on consistent, specialized healthcare without interruption,” Lord wrote. “It will be difficult for Mr. Stormer to receive the specialized care he requires in a [Bureau of Prisons] facility.”
The case against Stormer was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that uses federal, state and local resources to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
