Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Montco man faces 100 counts of child porn
A Cheltenham man is facing child pornography charges after authorities allegedly discovered hundreds of images of such content on his cell phone.
Harley R. Strauss, 46, of the unit block of South Easton Road, was arraigned before District Court Judge Elizabeth McHugh Casey on 100 counts of possessing child pornography and 100 counts of criminal use of a communication facility in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between March and April.
Strauss was released on $20,000 unsecured bail to await his preliminary hearing on the charges on May 13 before District Court Judge Christopher J. Cerski.
Montgomery County District
Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Cheltenham Township Police Chief John Frye announced the arrest of Strauss on Friday.
An investigation of Strauss began in March when authorities received several CyberTips generated by complaints from various social media applications including Kik Messenger, Facebook and Twitter, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Michael Henricks. Facebook, Kik and Twitter provided internet addresses used for uploading the alleged child pornographic material.
Through those tips, detectives uncovered an email address linked to Strauss.
“I reviewed all 11 images and found that the content was child pornography. The children photographed in the images and/or videos range in age from 2 through 13 years old,” Henricks alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding the images depicted children under the age of 18 engaged in various sexual acts or poses.
On April 2, detectives showed up at Strauss’ residence with a search warrant and Strauss provided a statement to authorities.
“During his statement, Mr. Strauss admitted to downloading, storing and viewing material that would be considered to be child pornography,” Henricks alleged.
Detectives seized a cell phone belonging to Strauss. A forensic analysis of the phone’s content was conducted, court papers indicate.
“In reviewing the media, including pictures and videos, I located 313 unique photographs and 73 unique videos of images of children under the age of 18 years old in various sexual acts and in various stages of undress,” Henricks alleged, adding 179 of the photographs and 39 of the videos were of children under the age of 13 “engaged in prohibited sexual acts.”
Detectives alleged all 386 images or videos viewed were consistent with child pornography.
Officials said detectives with the Special Victims Unit of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and specially trained and sworn detectives from police departments in Montgomery County 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.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Beeson, who is captain of the district attorney’s Family Protection Unit.