Retired Johnstown cop gets 1 to 3 years for possessing child porn

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim McGuire

Retired Johnstown police officer Warren S. Maas, charged a year ago with possessing child pornography on his computer, was sentenced Tuesday in Fulton County Court to a prison term of 1 to 3 years.

The 55-year-old Maas was sentenced by Judge Richard C. Giardino on the basis of his Jan. 16 guilty plea to possessing a sexual performance by a child.

Maas was scheduled to stand trial Jan. 26 on 23 counts of possession of child pornography. The illegal images depicted young girls, officials said.

A July indictment charged him with possessing two videos and 21 still images, all downloaded from the file-sharing website, Limewire. Limewire is better known as a music sharing site used primarily by young people.

Maas’ attorney, Gerard V. Heckler, noted the day of the plea that Maas told police in his statement that he downloaded the images out of curiosity.

“Warren is quite regretful and remorseful about what occurred,” Heckler said that day.

Maas’ computer was turned over to state police after a family member inadvertently discovered the images, according to Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira.