A former preschool owner from Deerfield Township was charged Thursday with keeping dozens of images and movies of child pornography on his computer.
A federal grand jury indicted John Foster, 36, with 24 counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
The federal charges against Foster, who also faces rape and sexual battery charges in state court, could send him to prison for 20 years if he is convicted.
Foster is the former owner of the Primrose School franchise in Hamilton Township.
The Enquirer’s Dan Horn has more details about the latest charges:
Federal prosecutors say that between 2004 and 2007 Foster downloaded sexually explicit images to his computer and received about 25 compact discs depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Investigators discovered the child pornography when they searched Foster’s home in July, after he was charged with abusing two children in Warren County.
Neither the rape charges nor the pornography charges involve children from the school, and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office has said it has received no reports of incidents at the school.
Authorities have said the rape and sexual battery charges involve abuse that occurred on multiple occasions from 1999 to 2003.
The victim was less than 13 years old, according to a court document. One incident allegedly happened at Foster’s Deerfield Township home.
Foster is in jail pending an Oct. 31 trial on the rape and sexual battery charges. No trial date has been set for the federal child pornography charges.
The pornography charges will be handled separately from the rape case and could carry as much or more prison time if Foster is convicted.
Federal laws are tough on child pornography and often are easier cases for authorities to prove because they do not require testimony from a child or other physical evidence, reports Horn.
