Ex-Constitution Center worker sentenced in child porn

Charles Hess Jr., former director of visitor services at the National Constitution Center, was sentenced Wednesday to more than five years in prison for possession of child pornography, federal prosecutors said.

Hess, 63, was charged last year after a search of his Philadelphia home revealed more than 600 illegal pornographic images and 28 video files on a computer hard drive and six storage disks. Hess, who later moved to Berks County, resigned after the search. Federal prosecutors said the pornography included depictions of violence.

In a sentencing memorandum, Hess's attorney noted that Hess had been imprisoned twice - once for a large theft and another for issuing a bad check - not long before he landed his first museum job at the Franklin Institute in 1996. He joined the National Constitution Center in 2002.

Hess was not alleged to have had inappropriate physical contact with children at either museum. - Robert Moran