A Butler County judge declined to commute a Pittsburgh man's jail sentence to parole during a hearing Tuesday, instead sending the man to Butler County Prison.

Jon E. Shaffer, 51, originally was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer in March 2017 to six months to one year in jail followed by 13 years probation after being found guilty of child pornography and criminal use of a communications facility during a nonjury trial.

The case stemmed from evidence found on his laptop computer.

The defendant's sentence was postponed while Shaffer's lawyer, Lee Markovitz, appealed the case to the state's higher courts on grounds of privacy issues.

In the meantime, Judge Shaffer made the defendant, who is not a relative, register as a sex offender for 15 years. The state's Supreme Court rejected Markovitz's appeal in 2018, sending the case back to Butler County court.

But Shaffer's commitment was once again postponed in September 2019 when the MacArthur Justice Center, a constitutional rights advocacy group, appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case this spring.

Markovitz said during a previous hearing that the organization approached him about taking the case to the country's highest court because of the privacy issues surrounding the case.

Shaffer's case was the result of a computer repair. Cranberry Township police were called in December 2016 to Compu Gig on Route 19 by a staff member who saw suspicious images on Shaffer's laptop.

Shaffer had given the laptop to the computer repair shop to do some work. The staff member stumbled upon what looked like child pornography and reported it to the police, according to the complaint.

Police viewed the images and approached Shaffer about them. Shaffer immediately confessed to possessing images of minors engaged in sexual activities.

Like Markovitz, the Mac-Arthur Justice Center believed the way police initially viewed the images violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment and represented a “warrantless intrusion,” according to the organization's filing with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The organization argued that police should have sought a search warrant after receiving the tip from the staff member.

The decision brought Shaffer back to county court, where Markovitz requested his client's jail sentence be lessened to parole. In support of his request, Markovitz cited the recent sentencing of another offender who received five years of probation for child pornography in June.

Markovitz questioned why his client should be sent to jail when “we know what happened at this courthouse with another individual who faced similar and more serious charges.”

Judge Shaffer responded by noting that he wasn't assigned to that case.

Additionally, Assistant District Attorney Patricia McLean, who prosecuted Shaffer's case, noted that the original jail sentence Shaffer faced was on the lenient side under sentencing guidelines.

Markovitz also called David Gentile, a licensed psychologist, to testify. Gentile said he has been treating Shaffer weekly since 2016. Since that time, according to Gentile, Shaffer has followed a comprehensive safety plan and followed certain restrictions, such as not being allowed around children.

Gentile testified that Shaffer has a history of drug and alcohol abuse that contributed to his offense. Shaffer's addiction required him to undergo therapy to prevent a relapse, he said.

Through his dealings with Shaffer, Gentile supported the request for parole and determined that Shaffer is not at risk to reoffend, describing any jail sentence as a “total destruction” for Shaffer.

“I'm all for accountability, but if you're looking for him to be a functioning member of society and less of a threat, going to jail for him would be an injustice,” Gentile said, adding that Shaffer's family relies on his job for support and if he went to jail, they would lose their home.

Gentile further testified Shaffer has not been diagnosed with pedophilia, but suffers from an “adjustment disorder.”

“The defendant is an alcoholic, which played into this offense,” Gentile testified. “Not every alcoholic watches child pornography. So, for him, it's a combination of issues that led him to look for porn and avoid reality.”

McLean questioned Gentile's testimony, asking if he could guarantee that Shaffer wouldn't reoffend.

“Not at all,” Gentile said.

In Markovitz's closing argument Tuesday, he said that the act was a “one-night thing. He wasn't doing this for a long time with three or four hard drives full of this stuff.”

McLean responded by pointing out this sentence was agreed upon and she also disagreed with Markovitz's characterization of the crime.

“One night doesn't make it any less serious,” McLean said. “It's not a victimless crime. They were revictimized when he hit the download button.”

Judge Shaffer denied the parole motion, remanding Shaffer to Butler County Prison at the end of the hearing.