Federal grand jury indicts former state lawmaker on child porn charges
White represented 46th State House District for eight years
A federal grand jury has indicted former state representative Jesse White on child pornography charges three weeks after he was arrested by federal agents for allegedly having sexually explicit material on computers at his Cumberland County townhouse.
The grand jury returned the three-count indictment Wednesday on charges of receipt of child pornography, access with intent to view child pornography and possession of child pornography after Department of Justice prosecutors convened the closed-door proceeding at the federal courthouse in Harrisburg.
FBI agents raided White’s Mechanicsburg area townhouse on July 21 after receiving a tip the day before that there might be electronic devices inside the residence that were being used to share and receive explicit images and videos of children. Investigators said they received information that a nude photo from January 2019 showing a young child was found on an electronic device belonging to White, along with a second image tied to his account showing a child in a compromising pose in August 2021.
Both images were flagged by Google and sent through a tip line administered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which forwarded the information to the FBI.
While at White’s home, federal agents seized two laptop computers and multiple external hard drives, which investigators said had numerous files of child pornography downloaded showing children ranging from ages 7 to 15. Some of the files were “organized by categories of child pornography depicted” in the images, according to court documents. Investigators also said White was using ProtonMail and Telegram accounts, along with other peer-to-peer profiles to share and receive child pornography.
White allegedly admitted to investigators that he had “inappropriate content” on his devices and acknowledged that it was child pornography, according to court documents.
The federal indictment offers few new details, but it indicates there was enough probable cause for prosecutors to move forward with their case against White. A federal judge ruled on July 22 that White should be detained in jail without bond until trial, although it is not known where he is being held.
The Democrat from Cecil Township served four terms representing the 46th State House District, which at the time included parts of Washington, Allegheny and Beaver counties, until he lost reelection in 2014. He ran for district magistrate in Cecil Township area in 2015 and then tried to win his old House seat back the following year, but lost in both primary elections.
His law license was suspended in 2017 and he was later disbarred after being accused of theft of services by clients. He was criminally charged with theft of services and deceptive business practices in 2018, although the case was eventually withdrawn after he underwent a mental health evaluation and treatment, along with treatment for an addiction to gambling.
White has been living in central Pennsylvania since 2018 and was working as a self-employed political consultant at the time of his arrest. White was currently in the process of having his law license reinstated before an attorney representing him on his behalf withdrew his application before the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday, according to online legal records.