Berks County man charged in child pornography case

A Brecknock Township man is facing charges related to his uploading child pornography images, detectives in the Berks County district attorney’s office announced Monday.

Andrew M. Bush, 27, of the first block of Beavens Road, is charged with child pornography, sexual abuse of children, criminal use of a communication facility and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Detectives gave the following account:

Investigators received a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving uploads of digital videos of child pornography utilizing the social media platform MediaLab/KIK, commonly known as Kik.

County detectives obtained a subpoena served on the internet service provider linked to the uploads of child pornography, which led them to Beavens’ residence.

Investigators executed a search warrant at the home and seized a cellphone. Beavens admitted to detectives that he was the owner of the Kik account in question and said he had unknowingly clicked on child pornography while searching for adult

pornography. He said he deleted his Kik account from his phone as police were entering his residence.

A forensic analysis of the phone found more than 400 images of suspected child pornography. Further evidence confirmed that the defendant had previously utilized Kik.

Beavens was arraigned before District Judge Brian K. Strand and released on $50,000 unsecured bail.