Luzerne County Man Sentenced For Production Of Child Pornography

Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 6:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

SCRANTON, PA.- Yesterday, a 25-year-old Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, man learned he will be spending fifteen years in federal prison after being sentenced for creating sexually explicit digital images of a 7-year-old child and distributing digital images and video files depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus, on Monday, September 15, 2025, Brandon Christopher Heck, 25, of Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Saporito, Jr., to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by a term of supervised release, after pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography.

     In handing down the sentence, in addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Saporito ordered Heck to register as a sex offender in the national database upon his release from prison.

According To Court Documents

     According to documents and statements made in the District Court, beginning on July 26, 2023, and lasting through July 27, 2025, Heck communicated online with a 7-year-old girl over the Instant Messaging application Likee. Over a twenty-four-hour period, Heck, who posed as a 14-year-old boy, coerced and enticed the young girl to take sexually explicit images of herself and send them to him.

     During the investigation, a subsequent forensic examination of Heck’s cellular phone, Investigators uncovered and determined that in addition to creating child pornograph, Heck distributed digital images and video files depicting child pornography over the Social Media application Telegram throughout 2024.

     Acting U.S. Attorney Gurganus commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which led to the successful apprehension and prosecution of Heck.