T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK John Gawron appears with his attorney, Steve Stickles, Thursday for his arraignment and pleads innocent to more than 10 sexually-related offenses.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A man accused of multiple sexually oriented offenses involving children was among several people arraigned Thursday

John Gawron, 33, whose last known address was on Markatan Street in Flushing, pleaded innocent to one count of rape, a felony of the first degree, one count of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor, a felony of the second degree, and 10 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material or performance, a felony of the fifth degree.

His pre-trial hearing was set for Feb. 3, with a plea agreement hearing set for Feb. 28 and trial March 2. A conviction would result in his designation as a Tier 2 sex offender, which would require him to register every 180 days with the sheriff of the county he resides for 25 years.

Gawron’s bond remains set at $250,000, and he remains jailed in the meantime.

Charges stem from an incident Oct. 11, 2018, when detectives served a search warrant at the Flushing residence of Gawron and roommates Wesley Alan Burdge and Tabitha Gallagher. Authorities were in the course of investigating Gawron. The Internet Crimes Against Children Division of the Belmont County Major Crimes Unit had allegedly received evidence from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating he had been sharing child pornography on the internet.

Gawron was arrested, but Burdge and Gallagher fled with their children, then ages 1 and 5. The children were subsequently found with the couple and placed in foster care.

In May of 2019, Burdge was sentenced to 16 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to two counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

Gallagher pleaded guilty to attempted obstruction of justice and was sentenced in June to one-and-a-half years in prison.

In other matters, Tyler Matthew Prokopakis, 31, of 68 Cemetery Lane, Bloomingdale, pleaded innocent to aggravated possession of drugs, a felony of the third degree, possession of a fentanyl-related compound, and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, felonies of the fifth degree, occurring June 7. His pre-trial hearing was set for Feb. 3, with plea agreement hearing March 2 and trial march 17. His bond was continued at $10,000.

Kristopher James Tyler Gordon, 28, of 54486 Farr Road, Bridgeport, pleaded innocent to failure to comply with the order of signal of a police officer, a felony of the third degree, and two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, a felony of the fourth degree, occurring Nov. 12. His pre-trial hearing was set for Feb. 3, with a plea agreement hearing March 2. HIs trial was set for March 26. He is being held without bond on a separate case.