Former Agent With Pennsylvania Attorney General Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography; There Is No Plea Agreement, DA Says

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

A 39-year-old South Whitehall Township man has pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material, and faces a sentence of as long as 70 to 140 years in prison, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan.

Joshua Gonzalez was formerly an agent with the Pennsylvania Attorney General, according to Holihan’s news release.

Here are the facts, from D.A. Holihan:

Jan. 13, 2025

District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced that a former agent with the Pennsylvania Attorney General has pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material.

Joshua Gonzalez, DOB 2/6/1984, of South Whitehall Township, pleaded guilty today to 20 counts of Possession of Child Pornography, a felony of the third degree. Bail was revoked at a hearing today before Judge Robert L. Steinberg, and Gonzalez was taken into custody.

Gonzalez faces a possible sentence of 70 to 140 years in prison. There is no plea agreement in this case.

On Oct. 28, 2022 and April 12, 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip that someone uploaded child sexual abuse videos.

Lehigh County Detective Rob Toronzi with the Lehigh County Computer Times Task Force obtained a court order and determined the downloaded videos came from Gonalez’s computer. The investigation was also conducted by the Officer David M. Petzold Memorial Digital Forensics Laboratory of Lehigh County.

The case was investigated by SouthWhitehall Township Police Detective Tyler Doherty and prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Christine F. Murphy.

Gonzalez is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. on March 31