HARRISBURG, PA — A Crawford County man has been sentenced to 20 to 50 years in state prison after pleading guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material, marking his second conviction for the same offense, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.
Chad Allen Shelatz, 51, of Linesville, pleaded guilty to 20 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material. A Crawford County judge imposed the sentence Tuesday and ordered Shelatz to serve five years of probation upon release.
The court also ordered Shelatz to register as a sex offender for life.
“This sentence ensures that a repeat offender will not be able to continue to exploit and abuse children,” Sunday said in a statement. “I applaud our agents for a proactive investigation that stopped this offender’s behavior.”
According to the Office of Attorney General, the investigation began in June 2025 after authorities received a CyberTip indicating that an individual had uploaded, viewed or accessed a suspected image of child sexual abuse material the previous month.
Investigators traced the activity to an IP address associated with Shelatz’s residence in Linesville and subsequently executed a search warrant at the home.
Agents seized multiple electronic devices belonging to Shelatz and allegedly discovered dozens of files depicting child sexual abuse material, according to prosecutors.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Alison Bragle of the Attorney General’s Child Predator Section.
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