Brian Groo, 19, of Horsham.
A Horsham man has been charged with 167 felony counts related to the possession and distribution of child pornography, following a multi-agency investigation that began in September.
According to the release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the investigation was launched on Sept. 17 after an investigator with the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stating that a Dropbox user had uploaded a video and still-image depicting sex acts between an adult and a child who appeared to be 10-years-old. Investigators traced the associated IP address to a residence in Willow Grove, and then to the 200 block of Maple Avenue in Horsham, after the host family had moved.
On Oct. 10, Horsham Township Police and ICAC Task Force members executed a search warrant on the Maple Avenue home. Amongst the items seized was a cell phone allegedly belonging to 19-year-old Brian Groo, which was found to contain 499 images of child pornography, the release states. Additionally, investigators executed a search warrant on Groo’s Dropbox account, which allegedly uncovered an additional 37 images and 32 videos depicting child pornography, according to the release.
As a result of the investigation, Groo was arrested Nov. 22 and charged with 100 felony counts of possession of child pornography, 65 felony counts of disseminating child pornography and two felony counts of criminal use of a communications facility.
Groo was arraigned by Magisterial District judge Harry Nesbitt III, who set bail at $100,000 cash. Groo was then remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bail.
His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Dec. 4 at 11:15 a.m. in front of Judge Nesbitt.
(Editor’s note: All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause, and reflects the point of view of the police. Should the defendant choose to issue a public statement, or is later found not guilty or has the charges dropped, we will update this article accordingly.)
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