The booking image for 27-year-old Patrick Carpenter, of Lansdale, following his August 2019 arrest on felony burglary and criminal trespassing charges
A Lansdale man who was out on bail while awaiting proceedings on felony burglary and trespassing charges has been arrested again, following an investigation by the Lansdale Borough Police Department into the possession of child pornography.
Patrick Carpenter, 27, of the 100 block of East Second Street, has been charged with 50 counts of possession of child pornography and 50 counts of criminal use of a communication facility in connection with the investigation.
Between Nov. 21, 2020 and Dec. 28, 2020, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received four cyber-tips from Google and Yahoo regarding nearly 300 images and videos of suspected child pornography being uploaded from local email accounts, investigators said. The files reportedly depicted underage boys and girls — including some who were prepubescent — both posing and being sexually abused by adults, according to the criminal complaint.
All of the cyber-tips were eventually traced to Carpenter’s home along the 100 block of East Second Street, the report states. On March 11, a search warrant was executed on his home, with police recovering a pair of digital tablets, according to the complaint.
On one tablet, police said they discovered a variety of pornography, but none that would be classified as child pornography, the report states. However, on the second tablet, investigators discovered 45 videos and 129 images of child pornography, the report states.
Additionally, the email address registered to the second tablet was tied to a cyber-tip from Facebook dated July 4, 2019, regarding a user account that had uploaded child pornography to the social media site, according to the complaint.
When questioned by police, Carpenter stated that he was unfamiliar with the email accounts and added that he doesn’t use the internet much, according to the complaint.
Charges were filed against Carpenter on March 31, and he was taken into custody on April 15. Carpenter was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured upon the recommendation of prosecutors. Carpenter was then released from custody, and his next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on April 28 at 1 p.m. in front of Judge Levine.
Prior to his most recent arrest, Carpenter was out on bail from an August 2019 arrest in which he allegedly broke into a home on West Third Street in Lansdale and attacked a resident. Carpenter initially was given $10,000 cash bail, however it was switched to unsecured at his preliminary hearing, court records indicate.
In that open case, Carpenter was charged with felony counts of burglary and criminal trespass, misdemeanor counts of simple assault, possessing an instrument of crime, prowling at night, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and summary counts of criminal mischief and harassment. His next court appearance for that incident is a pre-trial conference scheduled for May 19 at 11:45 a.m. at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. [Read about that incident here.]
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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