Wampum man jailed for reported child pornography

Dec. 6—A Wampum man has been arrested for reportedly having and sending images of child pornography.

Stanley David Burden, 51, of Main Street, is accused of having images of a 10-year-old girl and another child in his cell phone. Charges against him were filed Friday by the State Office of the Attorney General.

An investigator who filed a criminal complaint against Burden alleges he intercepted a chat conversation between Burden and another man that describes a child's body parts and how he had sexual contact with the child.

The state investigator received a cyber tip on Nov. 30 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user of MeetMe.com had the conversation with the other person named "Ryan," presumed to be a male, saying the girl was between 10 and 18 years old, the complaint states.

An agent submitted subpoenas to T-Moblil for the IP address that reportedly belonged to Burden. With the help of Wampum Borough police, they executed a search warrant at the Burden home and seized a cell phone, and a forensic examiner found at least three files of apparent child pornography, the complaint states.

The report states Burden was at home at the time. During questioning, he reportedly told the investigators he uses MeetMe.com to speak with strangers, and he spoke with an individual named "Ryan" about his sexual activities with a child, and he talks with numerous people on the internet about that subject, the report said. He said he enjoys having such conversations and "making up" stories.

Burden is charged with felony counts of photograph/film/depict on computer sex act with a child, criminal use of a communication facility and three counts of child pornography.

He was arraigned by District Judge Jerry G. Cartwright, who committed him to the Lawrence County jail on $100,000 bond.

Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty or adjudicated in court.

dwachter@ncnewsonline.com