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Corkery behind bars

Coaldale's mayor, Richard Corkery, is behind bars for violating the terms of his bail conditions on charges of downloading images of child pornography, Carbon County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Matika said Monday.

Details are expected to come out at a hearing scheduled for Thursday morning in Carbon County Court. The violations apparently have to do with conditions forbidding Corkery from being around minors.Corkery, 72, of 249 Early Ave., admitted to having searched for and downloaded 28 sexually explicit images of boys.He allegedly downloaded the images on his work computer on six days between Feb. 15 and March 28, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Nesquehoning Police Chief Sean Smith.Corkery admitted to police that he had searched for sexual images of teenage boys on the computer, and downloaded 34 images of young men engaged in sexual acts, 28 of whom were determined by police experts to be teenagers.After receiving a tip, police began their investigation on April 6. On May 16, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent John Bates, state Trooper Scott Sotack and Smith spoke with Corkery, who admitted searching for and looking at child pornography sites, including those showing images of naked males under age 18.Corkery was arraigned July 14 on 28 counts of child pornography before District Judge Casimir Kosciolek of Lansford and released under $50,000 recognizance bail. Kosciolek ordered Corkery to stay away from minors and barred him from using or possessing computers.Carbon County Judge Steven R. Serfass on Aug. 1 added conditions to the bail, ordering Corkery to not attend church services on Wednesdays, when children are at the service. The judge permitted him to visit the home of a neighbor.Serfass also allowed Corkery to attend high school junior varsity and varsity football games, but only in the company of his neighbor.Corkery is scheduled to plead guilty to the charges on Oct. 25.At the Aug. 1 hearing, probation officer Jillian McGinley, who is supervising Corkery, testified she went to his home on July 27 as part of her duties and became concerned due to the large number of photographs of young males throughout the entire home.After listening to McGinley's testimony, Serfass ordered the county adult probation office to immediately remove the photos from Corkery's home.Corkery, who moved to Coaldale from Philadelphia about six years ago, was elected mayor in 2009.After his arrest, Corkery stopped attending borough council meetings.In an Aug. 9 letter to council, Corkery wrote that " ... in order for our council to be able to carry on the very necessary business of running the borough with as little unnecessary distraction as possible, I will not attend council meetings until this matter has been put to bed."

TIMES NEWS FILE PHOTO Coaldale Mayor Richard Corkery