A Chester County volunteer firefighter and county emergency dispatcher is behind bars, accused of sexually abusing a child while hoarding and sharing child sexual abuse material, according to federal court documents. The filings identify the suspect as 25‑year‑old Anton Bilski of Landenberg, and investigators say his alleged conduct included secretly recording juveniles who volunteered at his fire company.
Homeland Security Investigations opened the case after a tip from Europe in September 2025, according to court records. Agents traced Instagram messages sent in May 2023 to a linked Mega cloud account that investigators say held more than 180 images and videos. PayPal transactions allegedly tied purchases of illegal material to the same accounts. Bilski was arrested on March 20, 2026, and, according to NBC10 Philadelphia, told HSI agents he ran the Instagram and Mega accounts and used PayPal to buy the material. NBC10 Philadelphia also reports he was fired from his role as a Chester County emergency dispatcher after his arrest.
The Avondale Fire Company, where Bilski served as a lieutenant, is a mostly volunteer department that provides fire and EMS coverage to Avondale Borough and several neighboring townships, according to the organization’s public site. The department lists Station 23 as its base of operations and notes that it relies heavily on volunteer personnel for emergency response, per the Avondale Fire Company.
Court documents allege Bilski secretly recorded multiple boys who volunteered with the fire company and sexually abused a boy he met on Snapchat in 2021, according to a criminal complaint cited by NBC10 Philadelphia. Investigators say his collection and sharing of images continued between 2023 and February 2026, and that a Mega account tied to the Instagram profile was later suspended after the files were identified.
How investigators traced the accounts
According to federal filings, the investigation started with the overseas tip that pointed agents toward an email address linked to the Instagram account in question. From there, HSI followed the digital trail to a Mega cloud folder, where officials say they uncovered a substantial cache of illicit material.
Homeland Security Investigations frequently works with U.S. Attorney offices and local law enforcement under broader child‑exploitation initiatives such as Project Safe Childhood, using digital records to build cases and locate victims. That approach is outlined in prior cases brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Legal stakes
Federal law treats receipt or distribution of child sexual abuse material as a high‑level felony. In many receipt or distribution cases, statutes impose a five‑year mandatory minimum prison term and allow for significantly higher penalties when there are prior sex convictions or aggravating factors, according to a report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Sentences can climb substantially based on the age of victims and other enhancements, and convictions typically carry lengthy supervised‑release terms and sex‑offender registration requirements.
What happens next
Bilski remains in federal custody while prosecutors and investigators review the evidence and decide whether to pursue additional federal counts beyond the currently reported receiving child pornography charge. Officials say the investigation is still active, and anyone with information related to the case is urged to contact Homeland Security Investigations or local police, consistent with guidance issued in similar child‑exploitation cases by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
