Computer equipment seized by task force
Members of the Southwest Computer Crime Task Force, along with state and local police, executed search warrants Thursday and Friday at three Washington County homes as part of an investigation into file sharing and possession of child pornography.
Computers and related equipment were removed from homes in Meadow Lands (Chartiers Township) and Carroll Township. A warrant also was executed at a home in Donora, but no evidence was seized.
The warrant served by state police Cpl. John Roche, coordinator of the Southwest Computer Crime Task Force, at the Carroll home came as a result of an online tip. A warrant served by North Strabane Township police Detective John Wybranowski, a member of the task force, in Meadow Lands was the result of undercover online investigations into the possession and distribution of child pornography.
Roche explained that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children established an online tip line. Service providers and social media sites such as Facebook can log in and report suspected child pornography. That information is then forwarded to task forces across the country such as the Southwest Computer Crime Task Force.
As part of an undercover online investigation into sharing of child pornography, Wybranowski discovered a movie of a naked girl who appeared to be 7 or 8. Roche, who is assigned to a state police computer crime unit, said the task force was formed in 2003. In addition to Roche, it includes four troopers, two civilian analysts and 11 municipal police officers. The task force covers 15 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Police said charges are expected following forensic examinations of the computers seized last week.
Assisting the task force in serving the warrants were police from Chartiers and Carroll townships and Donora.