A Westmoreland County man has been charged with downloading and sharing child pornography on the Internet.
Brent Michael Derry, 20, of 641 Stewart Drive, Washington Township, faces a preliminary hearing Thursday on 75 counts each of attempted sexual abuse of children, sexual abuse of children and criminal use of a communication facility. It will be held in District Judge James Albert's Greensburg office, where the charges were filed.
Patrolman Rob Jones, a member of the state police Area III Computer Crimes Task Force, alleges that Derry admitted to downloading the photos after a search warrant was served in October at his home.
"An interview with Brent Derry resulted in an admission to downloading and storing several contraband videos under his Windows password-protected profile on a family computer," said an arrest warrant affidavit.
A search of Derry's bedroom resulted in 44 printed images found in a compartment within an end table, court papers said. The photos depicted girls less than 17 years old in sex acts and poses, Jones said.
"A subsequent forensic examination of the seized computer resulted in a number of contraband videos in various stages of download," the affidavit said.
Jones wrote that he encountered Derry while doing an investigation of child pornography on the Internet.
Jones said he determined through Comcast, Derry's Internet provider, that the involved computer was located at Derry's home.
"A search of ... records revealed numerous other instances where this (Internet) address was identified by investigators around the world as participating in the receipt and distribution of child pornography on a nearly continual basis from May 2006 onward," the affidavit said.
Derry is free on $25,000 bond.
