LEWISBURG -- A 73-year-old retired biology professor was convicted Monday of 20 felony counts of possessing child pornography following a trial before Union County Judge Louise O. Knight.

Jack E. Harclerode, of 1225 Supplee Mill Road, Lewisburg, could face a maximum of 140 years in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced within the next three months. Meanwhile, he remains free on $100,000 cash bail.

"I really don't think you're surprised" by the conviction, Knight told the elderly man after she announced her verdict. Harclerode had waived his right to a jury trial.

Defense attorney Peter Campana, of Williamsport, argued that Harclerode did not know that the children engaging in sexual acts depicted in the 245 images found on his computer and a portable hard drive were real and under the age of 18. These could have been computer-generated images, Campana said.

Knight said one of the reasons she rejected the argument was that Harclerode, who holds a doctorate in biology and taught at Bucknell University, was well aware of the human body and should have been able to determine the children's ages and that they were real human beings.

After waiving his right to a jury trial early Monday, Harclerode agreed to allow District Attorney D. Peter Johnson to present a statement of the case against him without calling any of the witnesses to testify or be cross-examined.

Search warrant

Johnson told the court that in March 2007, state police at Bloomsburg received a search warrant for Harclerode's home where they found a laptop computer and a portable hard drive and other items inside a locked metal filing cabinet.

The warrant was obtained after allegations arose that Harclerode had molested a 10-year-old Lancaster boy at a campground near Elysburg in June 2006. Police were tipped off by Jolee Djaraher, one of Harclerode's three daughters, who found their e-mail correspondence.

Harclerode pleaded guilty to first-degree indecent sexual assault in Columbia County Court earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18.

According to state trooper Kenneth Houck, while the search was taking place in March 2007, Harclerode was asked for the key to the cabinet and was seen a short time later apparently trying to surreptitiously remove the contents.

Inside the cabinet, police found a portable hard drive containing 207 sexually explicit images of boys under age 18, erectile dysfunction medicine prescribed to Harclerode, lubricant, condoms and pornographic DVDs.

The laptop contained another 38 images of young children engaged in sexual acts, Johnson said.

Real children

Dr. Pat Bruno, an expert in the physical and sexual assault of children, testified in the report that he reviewed 249 sexually explicit images found in Harclerode's home and was able to determine that 245 of them depicted real children under the age of 18.