HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Tyrone man who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing child pornography was sentenced Tuesday to one to 10 years in prison.

Presiding Judge Wade A. Kagarise imposed the state sentence on Andrew Paul Holpit Jr., 27, who will be transferred from the Blair County Jail to a state facility and given credit for time served since mid-February.

Kagarise said the state Department of Corrections was the “best suited” agency to provide treatment to Holpit, whose release and supervision falls to the state parole and probation board.

Defense attorney Kristen Anastasi said she was grateful Kagarise recognized Holpit’s need for treatment and other relevant factors.

During the sentencing hearing, Anastasi asked the judge to consider timed punishment and supervision. He said he has medical and mental health issues and was a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

“This is a person who needs to return to treatment and psychotherapy,” Anastasi said.

First Deputy District Nichole Smith, who recommended that Holpit be sentenced to consecutive 10 to 20 years in prison, said before the court that she stood by that recommendation.

“While I respect the judge’s decision, I am disappointed because this is the worst piece of child pornography I have ever seen,” Smith said.

During the sentencing hearing, Smith said Holpit was in possession of 21 videos and 18 photographs depicting verbal and physical sex acts with babies and young children, including those crying. While none of the videos or photos reportedly involve local children, Smith said that doesn’t matter.

“This is pornography involving the world’s most vulnerable population,” the prosecutor said. “Individuals who consume it create a market for its production.”

Holpit, who pleaded guilty to 79 felony and misdemeanor charges, told the court he never sexually touched or photographed any children.

Holpit told state trooper Todd Roby, who was leading the investigation, that regular pornography had become boring and that he liked seeing kids having sex, Smith said.

Holpit told the court he didn’t know he was doing anything illegal until state police raided his home.

“It’s my mental health and my childhood abuse that has desensitized me to what I’ve done,” Holpit said. “I didn’t realize how wrong it was when I did it.”

State police in Hollidaysburg, who filed the charges, arrested Holpit in April 2022 following an investigation that tracked the computer downloading of child pornography to Holpit, who later lived in Tyrone, and then to his cellphone.

After being released on $150,000 unsecured bail, Holpit remained free until February 2024, when Senior Judge Timothy M. Sullivan concluded that Holpit violated his bail conditions by establishing internet access.

While Holpit maintained that his internet use would be limited to medical appointments and banking, a treatment supervisor at a local agency told Sullivan that allowing Holpit access to the internet would be “like giving him a gun.”

Anastasi said at the bail hearing that there was no evidence that Holpit used the Internet to access pornography.

On Tuesday, Smith asked Kagarise to add a provision to the sentencing ordinance and order the state Department of Corrections to ban internet access.

Kagarise said he doesn’t think he can direct the state to do this, but he thinks it would be something the state imposes.

Holpit’s crimes also brought him to World War II. It makes him a tier sex offender and requires him to register his address and related information with state police for 25 years.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay

Stephens at 814-946-7456.