The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has announced the arrest of a 24-year-old Ft. Washington man on charges of possessing and disseminating child pornography.
Jacob Weiss, 24, of the Ft. Washington section of Upper Dublin Township, has been charged with 300 felony counts of possession of child pornography, five felony counts of disseminating child pornography and one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility in connection with the investigation.
Police said the investigation began when a specially trained detective with the Conshohocken Police Department was surveilling a peer-to-peer file sharing website. The release states that on multiple occasions, the detective was able to connect to an account that was sharing child pornography, resulting in the detective downloading a total of nine video files and five photos.
The release states that police were able to trace the account to Weiss’ home, at which point they executed a search warrant on July 9. Police said they seized a computer tower from Weiss’ bedroom, and a forensic analysis of the computer revealed 692 still images and 38 video files that were determined to include children under the age of 18 years old.
Many of the videos and images included children under 10 years old in various stages of nudity and engaged in sexual acts, the release states.
Weiss was taken into custody on Sept. 10 and arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Patty Zaffarano, who set bail at $50,000 unsecured. Weiss was then released from custody and immediately waived his preliminary hearing, meaning his next court appearance will be a formal arraignment at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas at a date to be determined.
(All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.)
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