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Inmate’s sentence challenged

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A Larksville man will continue to serve a five- to 10-year state prison sentence on hundreds of counts of child pornography but his requirement to register his address under the state&rsquo;s Megan&rsquo;s Law will be revisited.
				The state Superior Court on Monday upheld the sentence of Phillip Andrew Asher, 62, imposed by Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. in June 2018. Asher pleaded guilty and was sentenced on 500 counts of child pornography and seven counts of disseminating photos of child-sex acts.
				In a 10-page ruling, three judges of the Superior Court upheld Asher&rsquo;s prison sentence but sent the case back to Luzerne County Court for further fact-finding related to registration requirements.
				The lewd images were found when Luzerne County detectives executed a search warrant at his Second Street residence in June 2017, based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
				After a Sexual Offenders Assessment Board hearing, Asher was determined not to be a sexually violent predator, who are subjected to lifetime registration under the state&rsquo;s Megan&rsquo;s Law.
				Sklarosky did designate Asher as a sex offender, however, requiring him to register his address with law enforcement authorities for 25 years upon his release.
				Asher appealed the sex offender registration requirement, claiming the state&rsquo;s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA II) violated his rights as added criminal punishment beyond his state prison sentence.
				The Superior Court in their Asher opinion followed a directive by the state Supreme Court that ruled earlier this year the state&rsquo;s SORNA II law unconstitutional by creating &ldquo;irrebuttable presumption that all sexual offenders pose a high risk of recidivism&rdquo; without scientific evidence.

Sex offender registration challenged by Larksville man