Pocono News Section

Charges of Child Porn Possession Forwarded To County Court

Charges of Child Porn Possession Forwarded To County Court - Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 6:34PM EST

Reported by: Jill Konopka
Tuesday, Oct 2, 2007 @06:34pm EST
(WILKES-BARRE, PA) -

A District Judge decides there is enough evidence against a Wilkes-Barre man to go to trial on kiddie porn possession. 31-year-old Jacob Mertz is free on bail tonight, but returned to Central Court this morning.

The Commonwealth called three witnesses to the stand late Tuesday morning, including a Wilkes-Barre Detective, a State Police Forensic Computer Lab Analyst and a Child Psychologist. The state wanted to establish Mertz was in possession of child porn, but his former neighbor says those allegations are not true.

Jacob Mertz dodged our cameras as he took off in his white Mercedes from Central Court. One week ago, he was charged with 66 counts of child porn possession and criminal use of a communication device.

Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jenny Roberts said, "They were his computers, he had sole possession of them." Police say they found dozens of graphic images involving girls less than 13 years old on his hard drive.

Wilkes-Barre Police Detective Joseph Bitzer said, "Some of them were found on unallocated space, which is what happens when you delete the files." Detectives say they also found seven kiddie porn videos from his Garnet Street home. They were called there after a domestic dispute involving Mertz's ex-girlfriend in February. Detective Joseph Bitzer added,” There’s 132 charges. That's pretty serious, they're all felonies."

Mertz’s former neighbor Elisa Caraballo said, "He's been tried already in the public's eye as far as he's concerned." Caraballo added, "No I really don't believe it. I have girls, he's been around them and I trust him with my children." Elisa Caraballo says her neighbor is a hardworking respectable guy. Caraballo even questions how the charges came about.

Caraballo told WBRE News, "As a woman, if you saw child porn on your boyfriend and you don't live with him are you going to come back or report to police instead she waited 51 days." Efforts to contact Mertz’s Ex-Girlfriend were not successful. Her father also declined an interview.

But Mertz's attorney did speak with us. Joseph Sklarosky, Sr., "At this point my client is presumed innocent until I review the discovery we'll make the appropriate decision." Jacob Mertz will be formally arraigned on November 30th at the Luzerne County Court House