Man who escaped from Harrisburg rehabilitation center convicted of child pornography

A U.S. District Court judge on Monday sentenced a Schuylkill County man to more than 20 years in prison for sexual exploitation of children and escaping from a detention center.

In November 2020, the man escaped from a Harrisburg residential rehabilitation center while serving the remainder of a federal sentence for drug trafficking.

Shane Lopez, 29, of Mahanoy Town, was arrested in May 2021 in Mahanoy Town after his escape. When police arrested him, they discovered evidence of child pornography, and further investigation into his phone and the accounts he owned revealed that he had more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography, including one video he made of an 18-month-old child, according to a Justice Department press release.

Lopez pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and escaping from a detention center in November 2023, and was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for sexual exploitation of children and a consecutive two-year sentence for escape from a detention center.

After his release from prison, he will serve five years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the US Marshal Service. Assistant United States Attorney Scott Ford prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.