JEFFERSON CO., Pa. (EYT) — A Summerville man who was busted in possession of child pornography is due in court next Tuesday.
Court documents indicate 49-year-old Joel Lee Saylor is scheduled to stand for a preliminary hearing in front of Magisterial District Judge Gregory M. Bazylak at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, on the following charges:
– Child Pornography, Felony 2 (three counts)
– Disseminate Photo/Film of Child Sex Acts, Felony 2 (three counts)
– Child Pornography, Felony 3 (six counts)
– Disseminate Photo/Film of child Sex Acts, Felony 3 (five counts)
– Criminal Use of Communication Facility, Felony 3
He is currently free on $50,000.00 unsecured bail.
The charges stem from an investigation that began nearly a year ago.
Details of the case:
According to a criminal complaint, on December 20, 2019, an Instagram, Inc. representative submitted a report of sexual abuse of children/child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) advising that several images of child pornography were uploaded to the Instagram account a known Instagram account with the associated phone number and IP address. The uploads allegedly occurred on December 20, 2019, at 10:53 p.m.
The complaint notes the IP address was then researched and was found to belong to Comcast cable. On February 18, 2020, an administrative subpoena was submitted to Comcast for the subscriber information. Comcast immediately responded to the subpoena and advised that the IP address in question on the given date and time was assigned to a known woman at a Summerville address.
The material reported included two images and one video, which were then viewed by police and determined to be child pornography. The images allegedly depicted a prepubescent female on her back partially clothed, exposing her genitals, and the same female sitting up and moving her underwear to expose her genitals. In both images, the word “Kindergarten” was in the bottom left of the photo and a name and “5y” was in the bottom right of the photo, according to the complaint.
The video was of a nude pubescent female exposing her breast and vaginal area and performing a sexual act in front of the camera, the complaint indicates.
On October 23, 2020, a search warrant was served on the Summerville residence indicated in the report on the owner of the IP address, and Joel Saylor was found to be present at the residence. There were multiple items seized from the residence during the search, according to the complaint.
Police spoke to Saylor at the residence during the search. He was advised of his rights and agreed to speak to police, the complaint notes.
According to the complaint, Saylor reportedly told police he had “gotten bored” watching adult pornography and slowly began to be interested in child modeling, and finally in child pornography. He admitted that one of his old Instagram accounts was the account under investigation and that he most likely got locked out of the account after sending child pornography.
Taylor told police he had made multiple different accounts on Instagram with fictitious names because he needed backup accounts for when they were closed by Instagram. He said he would not search child pornography on the internet, and would instead follow accounts of people that posted photos of young clothed and nude children. Once he followed those accounts, he would then look and see who they were following or who was following them, and from there he would find additional accounts to following and message. He would then send messages to the accounts and trade images of child pornography, according to the complaint.
Saylor admitted he “had a problem” and said he “would seek counseling for it,” the complaint notes.
On October 23, a search warrant was also served on Facebook for additional information on the Instagram account in question. The results of the warrant were received on November 13, and through viewing the conversations on the account, police found another image of child pornography received by the account, as well as two images of child pornography involving indecent contact and three images of child pornography not involving indecent contact sent from the account. The images sent included additional photos of the same child in the photos from the original cyber tip, the complaint states.
In total, three images/videos of child pornography involving indecent contact were possessed and distributed, six images of child pornography not involving indecent contact were possessed, and five images were distributed, the complaint indicates.
Saylor was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge Gregory M. Bazylak at 9:33 a.m. on Thursday, December 17.
