ALTOONA (PA)
Altoona Mirror [Altoona PA]
October 13, 2023
Petracca, removed from service in 2017, faces 31 felonies
A former priest with the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, according to Attorney General Michelle Henry.
Anthony John Petracca Jr., 67, faces 31 felony counts of possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
Petracca was arrested at his Hollidaysburg home Wednesday and arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Dunio. Bail was set at $25,000 and he was remanded to the Blair County Prison.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, between July 14, 2022, and Aug. 18, 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received and forwarded multiple tips regarding child exploitation to the Office of Attorney General.
During the investigation, it was discovered that five files were uploaded and/or viewed by a cellphone and email address later found to belong to Petracca, the complaint states.
All five files depicted indecent contact of children under the age of 18 engaged in prohibited sex acts and/or poses, the report stated.
An additional eight tips were then received and also associated with Petracca’s cellphone and email address. Among those tips were at least 13 files of child pornography, with nine of those showing children engaged in indecent contact or depicting children under the age of 10, court documents state.
The complaint contends that on July 25, 2022, four files of child pornography were uploaded;
July 26, two files; July 27, seven files; July 16, five files; July 21, one file; July 23, two files; Aug. 6, seven files; and Aug. 18, 12 files.
Administrative subpoenas served in October 2022 on Verizon and Google for subscriber information indicated that Petracca is associated with both accounts, investigators found.
In November 2022, a search warrant served on the cellphone number provided investigators with a hard drive of information from Petracca’s cloud storage for review. During the review, at least 30 files of apparent child pornography were discovered, the report states. Of the located files, 11 depict children under the age of 18 engaged in indecent sexual contact.
The investigation continued over the months as the Office of Attorney General narrowed down Petracca’s location. Using PennDOT and post office records, his address was confirmed last month, the report states.
Petracca’s case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General David Drumheller.
Petracca was ordained in 1985 and was assigned to his first church, Our Lady of Lourdes in Altoona, according to the website bishopaccountability.org.
He then served churches in Cambria, Somerset and Blair counties.
In July 2017, Bishop Mark L. Bartchak placed Petracca on leave from public ministry after he was accused of misconduct involving a minor dating back to the 1980s.
“He has not functioned as a priest since that time,” diocesan spokesman Tony DeGol said in a statement.