ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — An Altoona man is facing multiple felony charges after the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and police found he uploaded over 100 photos of child pornography to online services.
Agents found Marcus Reed, 24, at an apartment in Altoona in December 2022 as he was hiding in a bedroom allegedly deleting items off of his cell phone, according to a criminal complaint.
The child predator section of the Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation after multiple Cyber Tips were received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Three online platforms including Kik Messenger, Twitter and Skype Photosharing generated the tips that involved a total of 24 uploads of child porn.
Agents said the tips were received between Sept. 26, 2021 and Aug. 30, 2022. According to the complaint, each photo depicted children under the age of 18 engaging in sexual acts or poses.
The investigation revealed one IP address that was used to upload the photos to separate online accounts. Agents used the IP address to gather internet service provider information that lead them to a physical address in Altoona.
According to court documents, the address lead agents to an apartment building. On Dec. 8, 2022, a search warrant was signed by Magisterial District Judge Daniel DeAntonio to allow for a search and seizure of items in the apartment.
Agents and Altoona police executed the search warrant the following day where they located Reed in his bedroom. Reed was allegedly hiding behind his bedroom door holding his iPhone 7 when agents found him and was believed to be in the process of deleting items off the phone, according to the complaint. He gave his phone to agents as it was taken for a forensic examination.
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On March 3, a forensic exam report of the iPhone revealed four photos of child porn depicting children believed to be between the ages of 4 to 10, according to the complaint. Agents said 30 more tips were received during the investigation involving Reed bringing the total number of tips to 41 and the total number of photos allegedly uploaded by Reed to 103.
An additional tip was generated by Snapchat on March 2 which reported two photos of suspected child porn were uploaded earlier in February. According to agents, the account used to upload the photos belonged to Reed.
Reed was arraigned on Tuesday morning by Judge DeAntonio and released on $25,000 unsecured bail. He’s charged with six felony counts of child pornography and a felony charge of criminal use of a communication facility.
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