CINCINNATI, Ohio - A Lowellville man sentenced to spend over two decades in prison for taking photographs while molesting a child has filed an appeal.

An attorney representing 36-year-old Joseph Garchar filed the appeal in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals contesting his client's conviction on one count of sexual exploitation of a child and the subsequent sentence of 24 years in federal prison.

In December 2022, Pulaski, Pennsylvania Police contacted the FBI after someone reported finding images on Garchar's phone showing a male touching a female child's genitals. 

A witness told investigators that they believed a male hand shown in the photos was that of Garchar after a witness said that he always has "dirty hands due to his job." 

In January 2023, a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner at the Children's Advocacy Center of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania told the FBI that the child in the photos was a pre-pubescent female. 

According to an affidavit, 18 photos were found on the phone, and it was determined that they were taken in April and October at Garchar's home.