Man caught after 2-year search

JONATHAN PUDISH

After nearly two years, a man who absconded from bail on child pornography and drug charges was apprehended Thursday in Montrose by US Marshals, the Susquehanna County Sheriff’s Office and Montrose Borough Police.
Jonathan Carl Pudish was discovered hiding in a home with a relative, according to a statement issued by the Susquehanna County Sheriff’s Department.
In April 2015, a bench warrant was issued for Pudish after he violated bail and absconded from original charges filed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
Pudish had been charged with 30 counts of child pornography.
He was last seen on May 20, 2015, and had resided in Kingsley at the time of his arrest.
Pudish faces multiple felony charges in connection with a 2014 incident: 15 counts of disseminating child pornography; 15 counts of child pornography; one count of criminal use of a communication facility; one count of manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver; and one count of possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered.
Pudish was present in Clifford District Court on Jan. 20, 2015, where he waived a preliminary hearing. All charges were then moved to the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas.
He appeared Monday afternoon, April 24, in the Court of Common Pleas for a bench warrant hearing stemming from April 14, 2015.
The prosecutor, from the state’s office of attorney general, noted that Pudish had been missing for two years, and had violated several conditions of his bail.
Susquehanna County President Judge Jason Legg said bail for Pudish at $100,000. He is being held at the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility.