Horsham man waives hearing on child pornography charges
HORSHAM >> A Horsham Township man must answer to charges in Montgomery County Court that he possessed and disseminated child pornography while using his cellphone. Christopher G. Matton, 25, of the 300 block of Easton Road, waived his preliminary hearing, before District Court Judge Harry J. Nesbitt III, on charges of possession of child pornography, disseminating child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between June and August 2022.
Matton now faces an April 26 formal arraignment hearing on the charges in county court after which a judge will schedule a trial date. Matton remains free on $10,000 cash bail while awaiting his next court hearing.
An investigation began in August 2022, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from Reddit, an online platform, that one of its users uploaded six images of suspected child pornography, according to the criminal complaint filed by Horsham Township Detective Gloria G. Hatcher.
The images depicted males and females, some as young as under the age of 6, engaged in sexual acts or poses, according to the arrest affidavit.
Detectives traced the internet address to Matton’s Easton Road home in Horsham and went to the residence armed with a search warrant on Nov. 9, 2022. During the search, detectives seized Matton’s cellphone.
“Chris Matton identified the cellphone as belonging to him. A forensic examination was conducted on the cellphone,” Hatcher alleged.
Detectives subsequently determined the cellphone contained more than 100 photos that depicted juveniles and infants in varying states of nudity or engaged in sexual acts or poses, according to court papers.
Officials said county detectives, along with specially trained and sworn detectives from police departments countywide, routinely work with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to protect children from internet predators by aggressively and proactively investigating internet crimes that exploit children.