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Pennsylvania man receives 5 years for soliciting Gloucester youths

A Pennsylvania man received an active sentence of five years in prison last week for soliciting two local minors.

Jeffery Kerila, 24, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Jan. 30 in Gloucester Circuit Court to one count of using a communication device to solicit a minor for certain sexual offenses. 

Gloucester Circuit Court Judge Jeffery W. Shaw accepted the plea and sentenced Kerila to 20 years with 15 years suspended. Kerila will have to serve the mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender indefinitely, according to Capt. John Schick Jr. of the Gloucester Sheriff’s office. 

Schick said Kerila used a social media app called “Scout” to contact the local minors, both under the age of 10 at the time, for the purpose of soliciting nude photographs from them. 

Schick said the app flagged the communication and tipped off the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). He sa...

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