Photo by Robert A. DeFrank Wesley Alan Burdge pleads guilty to two counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor Thursday.

Wesley Alan Burdge, who had been the subject of a manhunt near the end of 2018 on suspicion of activities related to child pornography, pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Frank Fregiato set Burdge’s sentence for May 20 and said Burdge will also be designated a Tier 2 child victim sex offender. A pre-sentence investigation and victim-impact statement were ordered.

“Sharing it on the internet. Basically allowing others to have access to it,” Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Vavra said. “We’re going to ask for the maximum sentence of 16 years.”

Burdge, 44, and his girlfriend, Tabitha Lea Gallagher, 38, former residents of Markatan Street, Flushing, were arrested in November in Washington, Pa., after a manhunt of about one month. Gallagher faces a charge of obstruction of justice.

The charges stem from an incident in October when detectives served a search warrant at their residence in the course of an investigation of the couple’s roommate, John Null Garwon III. The Internet Crimes Against Children Division of the Belmont County Major Crimes Unit had received evidence from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating Garwon had been allegedly sharing child pornography on the internet.

Garwon was arrested, but Burdge and Gallagher reportedly fled with the children, ages 1 and 5. The children were subsequently placed in foster care.

Gallagher’s trial date remains May 29, but this past Monday, Fregiato agreed to a joint request by prosecution and defense to set a plea agreement hearing for May 20. Gallagher is being held in the Belmont County Jail on $25,000 bond.

Meanwhile, Garwon, 43, faces charges of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and rape. His trial date is set for Aug. 13 before Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra. He is incarcerated in lieu of $250,000 bond.