Ashville man pleads guilty to producing child porn

Sollenberger to be sentenced to at least 35 years in prison

From Mirror staff reports

An Ashville man indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2020, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to charges of production and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced Wednesday.

Michael Sollenberger, 41, pleaded guilty to all three counts in the indictment before Senior U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that from Jan. 8, 2019, to Jan. 8, 2020, and from Feb. 21, 2018, to Feb. 21, 2019, Sollenberger produced images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct using materials that were shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

In addition, from June 10 to 12, 2020, Sollenberger possessed images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images were produced using materials that were shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

Gibson scheduled sentencing for Nov. 30. While the law provides for a total sentence of 120 years in prison, a fine of $750,000, or both, according to the terms of the plea agreement accepted by the court, Sollenberger will be sentenced to at least 35 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold P. Bernard Jr. is prosecuting this case.

The Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Sollenberger.

The investigation began in June 2020, after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from Yahoo that one of its accounts had uploaded over 120 images of apparent child pornography. The account was traced to Sollenberger's home, police reports stated.

During the investigation, videos and images were discovered.

In July 2020, Sollenberger was accused of raping a young girl after investigators found a video of him performing sex acts with the child, according to a criminal complaint at the time.

In that Cambria County case, which remains active according to online court documents, Sollenberger faces nearly 50 charges, including rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and child pornography.

Court documents stated that Sollenberger admitted to taking naked photographs of a young female, between 8 and 10 years old. He also allegedly confessed to touching the girl and performing sex acts with her, and said he recorded a video of one of the acts, according to reports.

The county's case has been continued numerous times, with the last action being taken last month. On July 23, a district attorney's preliminary conference was scheduled, according to online court documents.