Jon Somerville

A tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children led to charges against a 67-year-old Butler man accused of possessing child pornography, authorities said.

Jon D. Somerville, 67, of Butler remains behind bars following his arrest last week on 71 felony charges in the investigation by the state police computer crime unit. He is facing a hearing June 22 in Butler

Police charged Somerville Thursday after they allegedly found more than 50 images of child pornography on a hard drive at his home, investigators said,

District Judge Dave Kovach later arraigned him on 50 counts of possession of child pornography, 20 counts of disseminating child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

Police began their investigation in July 2019 after they received a tip from the nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by way of Snapchat, according to court documents.

The multimedia messaging app provided information through the center's CyberTipline that someone on July 18 and 19 had uploaded 43 images of suspected child pornography.

Investigators used the IP address associated with the Snapchat account to help identify Somerville.

Police obtained a search warrant for the defendant's apartment that was executed Thursday. He was home and told police that he lived alone.

During the search, police seized an external hard drive in the living room, documents said. The device allegedly contained in excess of 50 illicit images.

Online court documents did not list an attorney for Somerville.