UPDATE: Jury returns verdict in Philhower trial

After about four hours of deliberations, Harold Philhower was found guilty on four counts in a Kent County courtroom on Thursday.

The first count was third degree rape. It’s a felony punishable from two to up to twenty-five years in the state of Delaware. The thirty-four-year-old was actually facing second degree rape, but the jury used it’s right to find him guilty of a lesser charge, that being third degree.

The other three counts the jury found him guilty were “dealing in child pornography.” Each count represents a nude photo sent from the thirteen-year-old victim’s Nintendo DS to Philhower.

Philhower and the victim admitted to the existence of those photos. However, they were never recovered by police.

It appears the relationship between Philhower and the teen began when Philhower approached the victim’s father about texting and Facebook messaging her. The goal was to have someone she could to talk to when when the dad was on his frequent travels for work.

We’re told the victim and her family knew Philhower well because they all attended the same Karate academy in Dover. Philhower’s then-wife was an instructor there.

The victim admitted that Philhower performed oral sex on her and that they kissed during the summer of 2014.

In Philhower’s testimony during trial he said, “honestly nothing happened” when asked about the oral sex.

However, in his police interview video played in court the day before he said that the oral sex did happen for “a couple of seconds.”

The state and defense both said they would not be commenting on the outcome of the trial until after sentencing. However, it was clear on Thursday that the victim and her family weren’t entirely satisfied with the jury’s decision.