Music school owner faces child porn charges

The owner of a Tamaqua music school was found in possession of hundreds of child pornography images, according to Luzerne County detectives.

David J. Fortin, 37, was arrested at his home in Forty Fort, Luzerne County, on Tuesday after the file-sharing website Dropbox reported he had uploaded 190 files depicting child sexual abuse. Fortin is the owner of the Fortin Academy of Music at 99 W. Rowe St., Tamaqua, authorities said.

Luzerne County detectives and West Hazleton police reviewed the flagged files and observed young boys engaged in sexual contact with each other and with grown men, according to the complaint.

One video shows what detectives described as a pre-pubescent boy being “tortured” — bound by chains and crying as two men rape him in a 41-minute clip.

Investigators raided Fortin’s home on Tuesday and found over 400 files depicting child sexual abuse, police said. A search warrant executed on Dropbox revealed Fortin had “thousands of video files containing child sexual abuse material” on the website, according to the complaint.

During questioning, Fortin admitted to searching online for child pornography, which he used for his own sexual gratification, the complaint alleges.

Fortin denied ever touching a child in a sexual manner and told investigators he wanted to stop looking at the videos because they hurt children and he “wanted to help children,” police said.

Investigators charged Fortin with 500 counts of possessing child pornography, 100 counts of disseminating images of child sexual abuse and and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility.

Fortin was arraigned on the charges and denied bail.

Fortin is being held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday.