Former Centre County resident faces 50 felony counts of child pornography
A Northumberland County man was accused Wednesday of possessing at least 50 pictures or videos of child pornography.
The state attorney general’s office investigation into Matthew Rippon, 35, began in July 2019 after a sexually-explicit image of a child and adult was shared through his Gmail, a special agent wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed Monday.
Rippon, who previously lived in College Township, was interviewed in March by special agents after a search warrant was issued.
He was unsure if agents would find child pornography on his phone or computer and did not deny looking at child pornography previously. He instead said he looked at child porn once more than a decade ago while he was intoxicated, according to the charging document.
Rippon declined to share his phone’s pass code, telling special agents “there is personal stuff on the phone, personal stuff that I don’t want the police to see,” according to the affidavit.
A Homeland Security computer forensic analyst identified in April more than 1,000 images of child pornography on Rippon’s phone, the special agent wrote.
A defense lawyer for Rippon was not listed on a court document.
Rippon was charged with 50 felony counts of child pornography and one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility.
He was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Tom Jordan, who set bail at $25,000. Rippon did not post bail and is detained at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28.