Penns Valley man charged for possession of over 30 images depicting child pornography
A Gregg Township man was arrested Thursday on charges that accused him of possessing and disseminating child pornography.
Lucas D. Garber, 26, was arrested after telling investigators he used the messaging app Kik to download a “significant amount” of pornography, a special agent with the state attorney general’s office wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
The investigation began in August 2021 after four files that depicted child porn were uploaded to the app. At least three of the files were videos that depicted children engaging in sexual acts, the investigator wrote.
Garber’s email address and IP address — a numeric designation that identifies the location of a device on the internet — matched the account, the investigator wrote.
Investigators from the attorney general’s office, state police at Rockview and the Department of Homeland Security executed a search warrant about 7:15 a.m. Thursday on the Gregg Township home.
Garber said he downloaded the pornography from a group chat on the app. A preview of his cellphones showed 32 files that depicted children engaged in indecent contact, the investigator wrote.
Garber was charged with 33 felony counts of child pornography, as well as one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility. A defense lawyer was not listed.
He was arraigned by District Judge Gregory Koehle, who set bail at $50,000. Garber did not post bail and is detained at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7.