HARRISBURG - A federal judge is scheduled to hear motions Wednesday to determine if a retired Mount Carmel police officer charged with child pornography offenses violated his bail conditions and if he will be granted a non-jury trial.
A hearing will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday before U.S. Middle District Senior Judge William W. Caldwell at the Federal Building in the case of Blaine R. Handerhan, 55, of Jonestown, Lebanon County, whose trial, which has been delayed five times, is scheduled for Oct. 11.
Handerhan's attorney, Matthew R. Gover, of Harrisburg, filed a motion Sept. 21 with the court, requesting a non-jury trial. The next day, U.S. Attorney James Clancy filed a motion to revoke Handerhan's bail because he violated terms of his bail conditions by allegedly removing a tape installed to detect tampering with his computer and installing an external hard drive.
Handerhan was indicted Oct. 13, 2010, on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. He pleaded innocent Nov. 2 before Magistrate Judge J. Andrew Smyser and was released on personal recognizance with conditions that included home confinement with electronic monitoring. Other bail conditions included a curfew, supervision by pre-trial services and computer restrictions.
Caldwell later modified those conditions to allow Handerhan to be away from home between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Gover made that request April 12, saying Handerhan had voluntarily been evaluated by TRIAD treatment specialists and undergone extensive testing that concluded he would not be at increased risk of sexual recidivism if he were allowed to have more flexibility from his supervision. Gover argued the restrictions were creating a serious hardship for Handerhan's ability to raise his children.
Handerhan, who served as a Mount Carmel policeman for 30 years before retiring on Oct. 30, 2005, at the rank of lieutenant, was ordered to avoid all contact with victims or witnesses in the case and any child under the age of 18, except his own children. He was restricted to travel only in counties in the Middle District Court of Pennsylvania and ordered to surrender any passport, which Handerhan told the judge he did not possess.
Handerhan also had to surrender any firearms or other dangerous weapons.
The trial was initially scheduled for Jan. 10, but it has been continued five times at the request of the defense.