PENN TWP — An 18-year-old hunter is accused of trying to delete secret sex photographs after they were found on his trail camera.

The alleged incident occurred Oct. 3 while David J. Noah of Jefferson Township was in the Penn Township Police station waiting for a state trooper to arrive and investigate the photographs.

According to a criminal affidavit, the photographs were given to police by a property owner in Penn Township who discovered a hunting tree stand, salt block and trail camera on his Winters Road property.

The resident, who is not identified in court records, told police that the hunter did not have permission to be at that site, so he looked on the camera’s SD card, which contains photographic images, to see who was hunting on his property.

The photo card contained photographs of two men hunting in the woodlands, according to the affidavit.

But it also had pictures of one of those same men having sex with a female in a bedroom.

Penn Township Police used Facebook, high school yearbooks and driver’s license data to identify Noah, according to the affidavit.

Noah reported to the police station to answer questions about the alleged trespassing. He told investigators that he had permission to hunt on that property in previous years. At that time, Noah also allegedly spoke about the sex photographs, reportedly acknowledging the girl in them was under the age of 18.

At that point, township Police Officer Dennis Crawford contacted state police to investigate the photographs, according to court records.

While waiting for Trooper Gesuele Burello to arrive at the township police station, the other man in the hunting photographs arrived and Crawford left Noah to speak with him, according to court records.

When Burello arrived later, Crawford took the trooper to his desk to show him the photographs, according to the affidavit.

“To my surprise, the bedroom photos were not on the computer screen,” states the affidavit, authored by Crawford.

Noah, who was told he was under video surveillance while in the police station, allegedly confessed to trying to delete the bedroom photographs. He later gave a verbal and written statement acknowledging “secretly placing the trail camera in his bedroom without the female’s awareness and taping their sexual activities,” according to the affidavit.

Township police charged Noah with a felony count of computer trespassing and a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence.

Noah was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Sue Haggerty and freed on his own recognizance. His preliminary hearing is Nov. 12.

No charges have been filed against Noah relating to the photographs. But Burello said that part of the investigation continues.

Burello said investigators have not yet attempted to retrieve the bedroom photographs that were deleted.

Based on what Noah told them, Burello said, investigators know the identity of the female. However, investigators are not naming her or identifying her age at this point.

Noah’s attorney, James Paulick of Butler, declined to comment.