Rostraver Township man arrested in child porn case
ROSTRAVER – A Rostraver Township man was arrested Wednesday under an investigation into child pornography by the state attorney general’s office.
Benjamin D. Powell, 37, was charged with three felony counts of possessing child pornography after a search warrant was served at his mobile home at 5 Edinborough Drive, court records show.
The investigation accused Powell of uploading to social media accounts several images of children under age 18 and as young as 5 years old engaged in sex acts, charging documents state.
Powell’s tattoos of Mr. Yuk and smiley faces on his middle fingers appear in some of the images, according to the affidavit supporting the criminal charges.
He allegedly admitted to looking at child porn for about a year.
The case was opened Wednesday after Twitter reported some of the images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
District Judge Charles Christner sent Powell to Westmoreland County jail on $50,000 bond. He also is charged with criminal use of a communications facility.