Lansdale Police Detective Joel Greco, left, with Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, right.
One of Lansdale’s heroes in blue was commended Thursday by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele for his investigation into the capture of a Lansdale child pornographer and Mater Dei Catholic School cheerleader parent, who was sentenced in March to 10 years in state prison.
Lansdale Borough Police Detective Joel Greco was one of 29 county law enforcement officers who, along with eight citizens, were honored with commendations for their extraordinary efforts, exemplary work, and heroism in protecting and serving county residents during a ceremony at the Montgomery County Fire Academy.
“These honorees are among the best,” Steele said.
Greco, a member of the Lansdale Catholic Class of 1993, was previously commended by the county District Attorney’s Office in 2019 for his successful investigation and support of two young girls who had been sexually assaulted by three men known to the family, and in 2016, along with Lansdale Police Sgt. Dean Miller, Lansdale Officer James Hanrahan, Towamencin Township Police Officer Michael Seider, and Upper Gwynedd Township Police Sgt. Stephen T. Gillen, for the successful resolution of a hostage situation on July 23, 2015, involving Lansdale resident Andrew Cooper, who took his parents hostage in their home on the 400 block of West Mt. Vernon Street and threatened to shoot police.
Greco, who was the inaugural Lansdale Borough Police Officer of the Year in 2014, has been the recipient of other accolades for his police work, including an Individual Citation of Merit from Lansdale Borough Police in 2019 for apprehending and convicting three child predators and a Unit Citation of Merit the same year for the apprehension of a commercial burglar. In 2020, Greco was awarded the “Iron Officer” award by his department for no use of sick time during 2019.
“Montgomery County is a wonderful place to live and work for many reasons, including the fact that residents are willing to step up to help law enforcement do their job of keeping us all safe and making sure criminals are apprehended and prosecuted,” said Steele in a press release. “We also have some of the finest law enforcement officers and officials who work every day at a high level of professionalism.”
Steele said Greco’s investigation started with a filming incident at a school that led to the discovery of thousands of images of child pornography, as well as evidence that the accused sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl to produce his own child pornography.
Eric Swenson, 53, was sentenced in March to five to 10 years in state prison by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Henry Hilles, followed by seven years of probation. Swenson was found guilty during a bench trial in December 2021 of two counts of knowingly recording a child engaging in a prohibited sex act, 100 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
He will be required to register as a Tier 1 sex offender for 25 years under Megan’s Law.
Swenson received a credit of 1,084 days of time served. He must have no contact with minors or the victim and must undergo sex offender supervision.
The investigation began in March 2019 when a group of Mater Dei students told their parents that they were uncomfortable in the presence of another student’s father.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to Mater Dei Catholic School on East Main Street at 1:42 p.m. March 26, 2019, due to students reporting to faculty that they were uncomfortable around another student’s father, identified as Swenson.
Swenson filmed students at cheerleading practice, even when his own daughter was not participating. Furthermore, students were fearful of Swenson and refused to attend events where he was at, police said.
Police then went to Swenson’s residence to speak with him, the report states.
Upon arrival, Swenson allegedly stated that he does record the cheerleading practices, but only to educate his daughter about the moves and added that he had no “nefarious intent,” according to the criminal complaint.
Upon further questioning about his phone, Swenson allegedly revealed a black and white image of a nude minor from a gallery on his phone, referring to it as “artistic” and saying it reminded him of a girl that used to live there, the report states.
As Swenson continued to swipe through his photo gallery, he stated that he had one “private photo” that he wanted to delete, according to the report. When police asked about the photo, Swenson stated it was a picture of “Grace,” which depicted a minor in lingerie on her hands and knees, the report states. Swenson then gave consent to police to search his phone, which lead to the discovery of a total of 35 images that were deemed child pornography.
After Swenson was taken into custody, police returned to his home to serve a search warrant. Police, who had already taken Swenson’s phone into evidence, also retrieved two computer towers from his apartment, which was later condemned due to “unsanitary conditions and imminent danger.” [Read more about the apartment here]
On April 1, 2019, Swenson’s phone was forensically downloaded, and investigators uncovered 371 additional photos of child pornography, according to the complaint. The following day, both computer towers were submitted to the Philadelphia Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory for analysis, which uncovered more than 6,000 known images of child pornography, as confirmed by the FBI database of child pornography images, the report states.
The complaint also notes that several peer-to-peer networking programs were discovered on Swenson’s computers, which he allegedly used to acquire and distribute child pornography, according to the complaint.
Though Swenson was formally arraigned at county court in June 2019, his case underwent a series of delays — compounded by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
There were six hearings between Swenson’s formal arraignment and Feb. 13, 2020, at which time a jury trial was scheduled for May 2020. However, the shutdown caused by the pandemic delayed the trial, which was rescheduled as a bench trial multiple times in 2021 before finally being held on Dec. 6, 2021.
See also:
Lansdale Man Who Filmed Local Cheerleading Routines Found Guilty of Creating, Possessing Child Porn
Lansdale Man Facing Hundreds of Child Porn Charges Heading to Jury Trial in May
Investigation Uncovers 6,300 Child Porn Images On Lansdale Man’s Computer: Police
Lansdale Man Arrested On Dozens Of Child Pornography Charges
Home Of Child Porn Suspect Vacated For Unsanitary Conditions, Deemed Imminent Danger
