A 79-year-old Center Township man is facing 50 criminal counts after investigators say an IP address uploading videos of child sexual abuse material led them straight to his front door. Richard Newell was charged with child sexual abuse material possession, dissemination of child-sex-abuse photos or film, and criminal use of a communication facility, and he has since been placed in the Butler County Prison.
According to ButlerRadio.com, online crime-reporting sites first identified an IP address uploading several videos of the material, and reports were filed with Pennsylvania State Police. Investigators traced that IP address to Newell's Center Township home, where officers say they made contact with him directly.
Admission Allegedly Made to Investigators
Per charging documents, Newell admitted to being in possession of the material when officers arrived. He also told investigators he had probably sent the material to someone else, according to the same charging documents cited in the station's report.
Those admissions, along with the digital evidence tracing back to his home, formed the basis for the 50 counts filed against him. The charges span child sexual abuse material possession, dissemination of photos or film depicting child sex abuse, and criminal use of a communication facility, the station reported.
Bond Posted, Charges Waived to Common Pleas Court
Newell posted $50,000 bond and had his charges waived at a preliminary hearing for the court of common pleas on October 27, per the same account. Under Pennsylvania court rules, waiving a preliminary hearing sends a case directly to the court of common pleas without the prosecution having to present evidence establishing a prima facie case before a magisterial district judge, as outlined in 234 Pa. Code Rule 541.
What Pennsylvania Law Says About the Charges
Under the statute governing sexual abuse of children, a person who intentionally views or knowingly possesses or controls child sexual abuse material commits an offense, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The same statute separately prohibits knowingly selling, distributing, delivering, disseminating, transferring, displaying or exhibiting the material to others. A first offense under those sections is generally graded as a third-degree felony, subject to statutory exceptions, per the assembly's published code.
Newell was also charged with criminal use of a communication facility. Pennsylvania law defines that offense as using a communication facility to commit, cause or facilitate a felony, a third-degree felony in itself, with each use constituting a separate offense, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. A conviction under that statute can carry a fine of up to $15,000, imprisonment of up to seven years, or both. The law's definition of a communication facility is broad, covering any instrument used or useful to transmit signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence, including telephones, radio and mail.
The case now moves forward in the court of common pleas following the waived preliminary hearing. No additional details on the status of the case have been released.
