Former E. Marlborough sex offender paroled

A former East Marlborough Township man was paroled last month, having spent nearly a year in prison on child-pornography charges.

Jeffrey M. Ball of East Marlborough Township is awaiting extradition from South Carolina.
Jeffrey M. Ball

State police said the case against Jeffrey M. Ball, 46, began in March 2014, when detectives from Delaware County determined that Ball was sharing images of child pornography online from his residence.

In September 2014, troopers executed a search warrant at Ball’s home, seizing several computers, which were examined and found to contain illicit images. An arrest warrant was issued the following month, but Ball had already fled, abandoning his family, police said.

Ball remained on the lam for several months, police said. Acting on an anonymous tip that Ball was hiding in South Carolina, troopers said they contacted the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and provided information on Ball’s status as a fugitive and his probable whereabouts in Pendleton, S.C. He was taken into custody in January 2015.

From that point on, Ball cooperated with authorities, said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, who said Ball waived extradition as well as his preliminary hearing. Although Ball was initially charged with more than 500 counts of child pornography for each image investigators found, he pleaded guilty to five counts, which carried a standard sentencing guideline range of six to 14 months in prison.

Ball, who has since moved to Montgomery County, received a sentence of 11½ to 23 months in prison followed by five years’ probation. In addition, he is subject to lifetime registration under the provisions of Megan’s Law, is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children, and forfeited his computers, court records said.

Hogan said when a defendant takes responsibility for all of the criminal conduct, it is standard practice to reduce the number of counts to maintain court efficiency. However, he said cases such as Ball’s have prompted district attorneys across the state to work toward getting a “guideline enhancement” for sentencing that would be based on the number and nature of the images.

An online business profile identified Ball as having worked in training and information technology at a variety of companies in the greater Philadelphia area.

 

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