A Schuylkill County judge on Wednesday asked the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to evaluate a West Penn Township man who was jailed in March under 14 child pornography related charges.

Brandon R. Lusch, 22, on Sept. 29 began negotiating a plea deal. He remains in Schuylkill County prison under $100,000 cash bail.

Judge Charles A. Miller wants the assessment done before deciding Lusch’s plea and its conditions.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Agent Caitlin M. Smith of the state Attorney General’s internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Lusch told state agents he had been watching child pornography in his car seconds before they knocked on his door with a search warrant on March 16.

Lusch was charged with 14 felony counts of child, pornography, and one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility on Sept. 1, 2021 through March 16, 2023.

Smith wrote in her affidavit of probable cause that on July 17 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from Snapchat that a total of nine videos of child pornography had been saved, shared, or uploaded on their platform by Lusch.

The Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation which revealed that Lusch had uploaded the images.

On March 15, Smith obtained a search warrant to identify the person using Snapchat to share or save child pornography videos.

Lusch was home, and after acknowledging his Miranda rights, agreed to speak with Smith and another agent without an attorney present.

He admitted viewing and sending child pornography to himself on Snapchat to save on his other phone.

He also admitted to screen saving a photo of a nude 8-year old.

Lusch told the agents that he was “struggling with viewing child pornography for seven or eight years.”

He said he looked at “baby porn,” but was “not into it,” and that he prefers children who are at least 13 years old.

The search warrant for Lusch’s home turned up three iPhones, one of which had two child pornography videos on it.

He also faces child pornography charges in Carbon County. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Lusch admitted to taking photos of two children at a home in Andreas. Lusch told authorities he had been taking photos of the children over the course of two years.

Smith is also prosecuting the charges against Lusch in Carbon County.

He’s charged with 11 counts of having the nude images of children on his computer; two counts of invasion of privacy; and one of criminal use of a communications facility on March 1, 2021.

He is awaiting trial in Carbon County.