Child porn charges filed
A Butler man is accused of having 152 photos and nine videos of child pornography on his cell phone.
State police said Charles J. Coy, 27, admitted that he sought out sexually explicit materials using the chat application MeetMe, dating back to November.
Police on Thursday arrested Coy on 50 felony counts each of possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility.
District Judge Wayne Seibel arraigned the defendant and later remanded him to the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail.
He also set two conditions — that Coy have no access to the Internet and that he must be supervised when checking his email on the computer.
Seibel, in setting bail, cited Coy's criminal record, which includes separate convictions in 2012 for indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age and indecent exposure.
A trooper with the Northwest Computer Crime Task Force launched the investigation after police received a Cyber Tipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in November.
The report alleged that Coy had introduced himself to someone on the MeetMe site, asking for child porn, according to court documents, “specifically of girls under 10 (years old).”
The other app user, police said, advised the defendant he would send the explicit materials by email.
The investigation eventually led police to secure a search warrant for Coy's home in Butler. No evidence, however, was found,
The defendant later voluntarily appeared at the barracks in Butler Township for an interview.
But before the interview earlier this month, documents said, police seized his cell phone as evidence.
“During the interview,” according to a police affidavit, “Coy admitted to requesting child pornography from (the app user) through the MeetMe website.”
On Jan. 16, police obtained a search warrant for his cell phone. The search yielded the numerous photos and videos of prepubescent children engaged in sex acts and lewd poses.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 4. Online records did not indicate if Coy has an attorney.
