Mahanoy City man waives 100 child pornography charges to court

Frank Andruscavage, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·2 min read
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Sep. 10—SHENANDOAH — A Mahanoy City man arrested by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General for having child pornography waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday.

William Smith, 24, of 27 E. Pine St., was arrested by Special Agent Kathleen Fallon of the Child Predator Section.

Smith was charged with 50 felony counts each of sexual abuse of children-distribution of child pornography and sexual abuse of children-possession of child pornography; and one felony count of criminal use of a communications facility.

After conferring with his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Kent D. Watkins, Smith decided to waive his right to a hearing before Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, and have all 101 charges against him heard in Schuylkill County Court.

In county court, Smith can plead guilty or enter a not guilty plea and request a trial.

Fallon said in court papers that the charges against Smith stem from incidents between April 2 and May 3 at his Mahanoy City home.

She said the crimes came to light last month when a CyberTip was received about an internet protocol address involved in the distribution and/or possession of child pornography photos and videos.

The address was linked to an account at the address where Smith lives. On Aug. 17, a search warrant was obtained from Kilker.

The following day, Fallon, who is assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said the warrant was executed by personnel from her office and the Mahanoy City Police Department.

After being read his rights and told the warrant was in connection with illegal internet activity, Smith asked if it was about child pornography, according to Fallon.

Smith said that when he was on the site KIK, other users would send him links that contained child pornography.

He told Fallon he would later feel guilty about viewing the images and would delete them.

During the interview, Smith told her he had viewed images of children as young as infants and that he had saved over 100 images or videos on his cellphone before deleting them, according to Fallon.

Smith remains in Schuylkill County Prison, where he is being held in lieu of $100,000 straight cash bail, which was set at the time of his arrest on Aug. 18.