Radnor commissioner arrested for child porn possession, distribution

RADNOR, Pa. (AP/WTXF) - Authorities say the president of Radnor's board of commissioners has been arrested on child porn charges after graphic sexual abuse images involving toddlers were found on his computers.

66-year-old Philip Ahr, of Bryn Mawr, surrendered to police Wednesday morning on charges including possessing and disseminating child pornography and sexual abuse of children.

The Delaware County District Attorney's office says 66-year-old Ahr received and distributed images of children being sexually abused by adults.

Prosecutors say they began investigating him in August after getting a tip about uploads and shares of suspected child pornography via Yahoo Messenger. Ahr was the subscriber to the account.

A search of his computers found the images.

Some of the images allegedly involved female children engaging in sex acts with adult males. Ahr admitted to detectives that he sent and received images of child pornography, saying, "obviously I knew the images were illegal and don't know how I could say otherwise."

According to police, Ahr's collection was mainly comprised of prepubescent girls under the age of 10, but also included infants and toddlers. Some of the media also depicted sadomasochistic sexual abuse and children being sexually abused by animals.

"Those who possess and share child pornography directly contribute to the appalling exploitation of innocent children and our detectives with the ICAC Task Force are actively working to locate and arrest these perpetrators," said District Attorney Jack Whelan. "As an elected individual and Chairman of Radnor Board of Commissioners, Mr. Ahr took an oath to serve and protect the residents, and for that reason we hold him to a higher standard of conduct."

Law enforcement guarded his home Wednesday where there was no answer. He was released on $10,000 bond.

Ahr is a marketing director at a business publication and has been a Radnor commissioner since 2016. Ahr remains the head of Radnor's board.