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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Mocanaqua man pleaded guilty to nearly 500 counts of possession of child pornography in county court on Thursday, after first being arrested last December.</p><p>Gary Douthat, 56, appeared before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Thursday, during which he pleaded guilty to a total of 498 felony counts of possession of child pornography.</p><p>Court records show that Douthat was arrested late last year after a state police investigation into child pornography discovered a video being shared on a file sharing website that depicted sex between juveniles and adults. An investigation into the IP address associated with the video revealed the address was tied to Douthat&#8217;s Mocanaqua home.</p><p>State police executed a search warrant at Douthat&#8217;s residence on Dec. 12 early in the morning. Numerous pieces of evidence were found on several devices in Douthat&#8217;s home, including more than 75 videos depicting graphic sex acts being performed on children. Some of the videos involved contact between multiple children and between children and adults.</p><p>The videos were found on electronic devices in Douthat&#8217;s bedroom. The door to the bedroom was locked from the outside, and the device with the child pornography was password protected.</p><p>Police say Douthat told them he is the only person who used that computer, despite sharing the home with his brother. He said he had been viewing child pornography for about 15 years and had been downloading torrents of it for the past two years.</p><p>He said he views porn every day, with child porn being viewed once a week. He said he estimated he had about 12 videos of child porn and 100 photos.</p><p>Sklarosky scheduled Douthat&#8217;s sentencing for Jan. 9, 2020. After his guilty plea Thursday afternoon, he was sent back to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, where he&#8217;s remained since his arrest.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Mocanaqua man pleads guilty to nearly 500 counts of child porn