PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 108 months of incarceration, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, on his conviction of violating federal laws regarding the sexual exploitation of minors and possession of contraband in prison, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV imposed the sentence on Seth Hollerich, 31, on February 19, 2026.According to information presented to the Court, Hollerich distributed material depicting the sexual exploitation of minors—including infants and toddlers engaged in sexually explicit conduct— on two occasions, in March 2021 and September 2021. Further, in November 2024, while in pretrial detention for these crimes, Hollerich was found to be in possession of prohibited objects (homemade shanks) intended to be used as weapons.In imposing sentence, Judge Stickman stated that it was “hard to fathom the level of depravity it takes to find pleasure in the victimization of little children” and explained to Hollerich that his crimes are not merely “virtual” crimes, but revictimized real human beings who had already endured being victims of sexual abuse.Assistant United States Attorneys Heidi M. Grogan and Kelly M.
Locher prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.United States Attorney Rivetti commended the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Marshals Service, and Butler County Prison for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Hollerich.This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.