North Penn Now has requested the booking image for 19-year-old Brian Carrigan, of Blue Bell. It will be uploaded when received.
An online vigilante from Blue Bell is facing charges after he allegedly confessed to police that a sense of guilt from collecting child pornography had led him to target pedophiles on social media sites like Telegram, Snapchat, and Discord.
Brian Carrigan, 19, of Whitpain Township, has been charged with 40 felony counts of possession of child pornography and 40 felony counts of criminal use of a communication facility in connection with the investigation. He is currently free on $10,000 unsecured bail.
Police said they initially made contact with Carrigan at his home in June 2022, after receiving a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding a Snapchat user who had uploaded files containing suspected child sex abuse material (CSAM). Carrigan told police that he was targeting and reporting pedophiles on Telegram that were exchanging CSAM, and the cybertip from Snapchat was likely in retaliation for his actions, according to charging documents.
Investigators at the time said they educated Carrigan on safer internet usage, and Carrigan told them he understood. However, a pair of additional cybertips in November 2022 from Discord and Dropbox detailing uploads of CSAM materials from accounts belonging to Carrigan prompted a return visit to his home by police in December 2022, according to the criminal complaint.
While speaking to police, Carrigan allegedly claimed ownership of the Dropbox and Discord accounts, and again stated he believed the cybertips were filed in retaliation for his vigilantism, according to the complaint. When asked why there were CSAM files being stored in his Dropbox account, Carrigan could not provide an answer, police said.
Investigators said Carrigan allegedly confessed that a sense of guilt over collecting CSAM had prompted him to target and report pedophiles online. He then provided police with his cellphone, where they uncovered 80 images and videos of CSAM following a forensic download, according to the complaint.
A review of the files by police showed they contained images of videos of male and female children between the ages of 3 years old and 14 years old being sexually abused by adults, the complaint states. Investigators also located one of the files mentioned in one of the cybertips, along with accompanying still images, police said.
Carrigan was taken into custody and arraigned on the charges on March 8, and he has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 23 at 9 a.m. in front of District Judge John Kessler. Attorney information for Carrigan was not available at the time of publishing.
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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