Swordsmyth
Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2016
- Messages
- 74,737
Four-term Pennsylvania state Sen. Mike Folmer has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced. Folmer was charged Tuesday evening after agents with the attorney general’s child predator unit and the Department of Homeland Security served a search warrant at his Lebanon home earlier in the day.
The search was preceded by a six-month investigation that began March 4, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from the microblogging and social networking website Tumblr.
Tumblr reported at least one image containing suspected child pornography was uploaded on Dec. 28, 2017, by a user with the screen name hoser44. Tumblr additionally provided investigators with the user’s email and internet protocol addresses, which eventually were linked to Folmer, according to the criminal complaint.
The image, according to the complaint, depicts “a very young female child” engaged in a sexual act.
Folmer was contacted at his Lebanon office at the time of the search and agreed to return home and turn over his phone. He was advised of his Miranda Rights and stated he was willing to speak to the agents without the presence of an attorney.
During an interview, he admitted that the Tumblr account associated with the tip was his. He told investigators that he “had been dealing with some personal problems/issues and that he had received child pornography through his Tumblr blog,” the complaint states.
Two images of apparent child pornography were found during a computer forensics search of the phone. “The two images discovered depicted indecent contact with a minor,” the complaint states.
Folmer is charged with sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography, and criminal use of a communication facility.
The 63-year-old Republican represents the 48th senatorial district which includes Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties. He was elected to the state Senate in 2006, in the wake of a public backlash over the legislative pay raise of 2005.
More at: https://www.abc27.com/news/local/pa-state-senator-charged-for-child-pornography/
The search was preceded by a six-month investigation that began March 4, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from the microblogging and social networking website Tumblr.
Tumblr reported at least one image containing suspected child pornography was uploaded on Dec. 28, 2017, by a user with the screen name hoser44. Tumblr additionally provided investigators with the user’s email and internet protocol addresses, which eventually were linked to Folmer, according to the criminal complaint.
The image, according to the complaint, depicts “a very young female child” engaged in a sexual act.
Folmer was contacted at his Lebanon office at the time of the search and agreed to return home and turn over his phone. He was advised of his Miranda Rights and stated he was willing to speak to the agents without the presence of an attorney.
During an interview, he admitted that the Tumblr account associated with the tip was his. He told investigators that he “had been dealing with some personal problems/issues and that he had received child pornography through his Tumblr blog,” the complaint states.
Two images of apparent child pornography were found during a computer forensics search of the phone. “The two images discovered depicted indecent contact with a minor,” the complaint states.
Folmer is charged with sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography, and criminal use of a communication facility.
The 63-year-old Republican represents the 48th senatorial district which includes Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties. He was elected to the state Senate in 2006, in the wake of a public backlash over the legislative pay raise of 2005.
More at: https://www.abc27.com/news/local/pa-state-senator-charged-for-child-pornography/
