NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, Abington Township Police Chief Patrick Molloy and the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announce the arrest of Keith Lucas, 48, of Glenside, for felony charges related to distributing and possessing child pornography.
More than 100 images and 500 video files of child pornography were found on Lucas’ hard drive following the execution of a search warrant by detectives.
The investigation began on April 10, 2019, when an Abington Township Police Detective with the ICAC Task Force was conducting an Internet investigation to identify people possessing and sharing child pornography. The investigation located a computer on a file sharing network that was specifically configured to anonymously share files with others. When the detective directly connected to this computer, he received 18 video files. The files were downloaded between April 10 and April 28, 2019, and upon review, were determined to depict children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts and/or sexually explicit poses.
The investigation traced the computer to a residence in the 100 block of Easton Road in Glenside in Abington Township, where the defendant lives. A search warrant was executed by Abington Township Police, Montgomery County ICAC Task Force members and agents from U.S. Department of Homeland Security on May 3, 2019. A hard drive and other computer equipment was seized. A forensic examination of the hard drive found more than 100 images and 500 video files depicting children under the age of 18 years old engaging in sexual acts and/or poses and were determined to be child pornography.
Lucas was arrested and charged with 18 second-degree felony counts of dissemination of child pornography, 100 second-degree felony counts of possessing child pornography, as well as criminal use of a communications facility. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth McHugh Casey, who set bail at $150,000 cash. He was also ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors and no internet usage or computer usage. The defendant was unable to post bail and was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., May 9, 2019, before Magisterial District Judge Juanita Price.
Major Crimes Detectives of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, along with specially trained and sworn detectives from police departments in Montgomery County, routinely work with the ICAC Task Force to protect children from Internet predators by aggressively and proactively investigating Internet crimes that exploit children. The case will be prosecuted by Captain of the Family Protection Unit and Assistant District Attorney Alexandria MacMaster.