Radnor Twp. board president resigns amid child porn charges
RADNOR TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Philip Ahr has resigned as the president of the Radnor Township Board of Commissioners following his arrest on child porn charges.
His resignation came in a letter addressed to the township manager that was received on Monday afternoon. The letter was read aloud at a township meeting Monday night
"The duties and the responsibilities of president of the board are demanding and personal reasons necessitate and I vacate my position as president of the board effective this date," he said in the letter dated October 20.
However, Ahr said in his letter that he intends to continue as the commissioner of the 7th Ward.
Ahr, 66, was charged with child pornography possession and child pornography dissemination, sexual abuse of children, and criminal use of communication facility earlier this month.
"The ages of these children is particularly disturbing. Anywhere from infants to 2-4 to 3-6, and all in those different categories," said District Attorney Jack Whelan while announcing Ahr's arrest. "Very disturbing."
"A portion of the images and videos depicted sadomasochistic sexual abuse, and children being sexually abused by animals," the D.A.'s office noted in a news release.
Authorities said the investigation began in late August after they received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Ahr uploaded and shared child pornography.
According to the D.A.'s office, on September 21, investigators executed a search warrant on Ahr's Bryn Mawr home.
Ahr told investigators he used Yahoo Messenger to sext with unknown individuals, which involved sexual talk about children, the D.A.'s office said.
According to officials, Ahr told detectives that during one of these conversations, an unknown person sent him about a dozen child pornography images of girls who Ahr estimated to be approximately 13 years old.
Officials said Ahr admitted to detectives that he sent and received images of child porn to and from an individual he was chatting with.
According to authorities, Ahr stated, "obviously I knew the images were illegal and don't know how I could say otherwise."
During the search of his home, police confiscated a desktop and laptop computer.
Authorities said a forensic examination of the hard drives recovered video and graphic images mainly comprised of prepubescent girls under the age of 10, but also infants and toddlers. Additionally, more than 1,000 web links to pornographic images, some including child pornography, were located as a result of the examination.
The board was unable to agree on Ahr's replacement.
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