A Smethport man waived a preliminary hearing Monday before District Judge William Todd on allegations that he possessed hundreds of images of child pornography.
Chad M. Caldwell, 26, is charged with 50 counts of child pornography, all second-degree felonies; and one count each of disseminate photograph/film of child sex acts and criminal use of a communication facility, third-degree felonies.
The criminal complaint states that on March 20, 2019, a representative from Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) contacted state police about CyberTipline reports that were generated and received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The reports indicated that at various times on Feb. 3, 2019, images of child pornography were either uploaded, downloaded, received and/or transmitted from an IP address that was later connected to Caldwell’s address, according to the criminal complaint.
On Oct. 30, Todd issued a search warrant for the home, and at 8:55 a.m. Oct. 31, law enforcement officials executed the warrant. Caldwell admitted to police that he possessed child pornography and disseminated it to others, and he provided the passcode to his cell phone, court records indicated.
Altogether, police found 673 images and videos on the phone that showed prepubescent boys and girls in sexual positions, according to the complaint.
Caldwell, who had been incarcerated in lieu of $20,000 bail, was released Monday on $5,000 unsecured bail.
