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September 29, 2005
Child-porn charges to go to trial
A West Manheim man is accused of uploading 2,073 pornographic pictures.
A York County detective found more than 2,000 images of child pornography on a West Manheim Township man's computer after seizing it in June, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.
Edward John McKay, 46, of the 2000 block of Black Rock Road, is charged with 29 felony counts of sexual abuse of children. He is accused of uploading images of child pornography to two Yahoo groups and an MSN group.
Court orders led the two companies to identify McKay as the subscriber, according to charging documents.
McKay appeared at a preliminary hearing Monday before District Justice James Miner, who forwarded all charges to York County court. McKay will be arraigned Oct. 21.
A tipster used the national Child Pornography Tipline to alert York County detectives of a man accused of supplying child pornography on the Internet.
York County Detective Jeffrey A. Martz of the Child Abuse Unit learned from the Yahoo! legal department that the images portrayed children who looked younger than 18 in sexually explicit poses.
A total of 29 items, including a computer tower from McKay's bedroom, along with floppy disks and recordable CDs, were seized June 30, Martz testified.
McKay, along with his wife and two young children, were present when the search warrant was executed, Martz said.
McKay accompanied authorities during the search and admitted to viewing child pornography, Martz testified.
On July 8, Martz started a forensic examination of the evidence, which yielded a total of 2,073 images of children performing sexual acts on adult males and exposing their genitalia, he testified.
There were numerous images of children under 18, even some of unclothed infants in "provocative poses," he said.
During cross examination by McKay's lawyer, John J. Mooney III of Hanover, Martz was asked why the images he allegedly found on McKay's computer and software were not presented.
"The images are secured for the integrity of the case," Martz said.
An order from a York County Court of Common Pleas judge prohibits detectives from transporting child pornography images unless they are court-ordered to do so, Martz said.
Mooney used that argument in an attempt to get the charges dropped. "It's impossible to (cross examine) without the evidence being presented," Mooney told the district justice.
Deputy prosecutor Stephanie Hunter said that defense counsel can set up an appointment to view the images.
Mooney also argued that there is a lack of evidence pinpointing McKay as the person who actually uploaded the child porn images, or showing when the images were uploaded.
Posted by Nealus at September 29, 2005 06:38 PM
