A Beaver County man pleaded guilty Monday in Butler County Common Pleas Court to one of 432 felony child pornography charges Cranberry Township police filed against him last year.

John D. Lefler, 47, of Freedom, entered his plea as a part of an agreement in which he will be sentenced to serve from 12 months less one day to 24 months less one day in prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving six months and serve the remaining minimum balance on house arrest followed by 96 months of probation.

Judge Timothy McCune accepted the plea and said he will schedule the sentencing after Lefler is assessed by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to determine if he is a sexually violent predator and a presentence investigation is completed.

Police filed charges June 20, 2024, after a May 27 intervention in the Cranberry Mall parking lot on Route 19, according to an affidavit.

The intervention was conducted by police and representatives of Predator Poachers, a national organization that travels the country conducting intervention-style sting operations to catch child predators.

When police and Predator Poachers approached Lefler in the parking lot, he admitted he had viewed and exchanged child pornography with others online and said he had 30 or 40 child pornography images involving children between 5 and 17 years old stored in his cellphone, according to the affidavit.

After he allowed police to search his phone, an investigator found 288 images and 144 videos of children under 18 years old engaged in sexual acts or simulations of those acts, police said.

Some of the images showed violent acts of rape involving children, including some less than 10 years old, police said.

Lefler has been free on $25,000 unsecured bond since the charges were filed.