Timothy James Kane, 44, of Macungie, Lehigh County, was charged after a joint investigation by Bensalem detectives and the Bucks County DA
A convicted sex offender is facing charges after police allege he used a work computer to download and share child pornography in New Britain Borough, for fear of being caught doing it at home.
Timothy James Kane, 44, of the 700 block of E. Main Street, Macungie, has been charged with felony counts of dissemination of sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography, and criminal use of a communication facility after a joint investigation this summer by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Bensalem Township Police.
Kane remains at Bucks County jail on 10% of $1 million cash bail, per court records.
On June 20, detectives with Bensalem Township Police were running an undercover computer program whose purpose was to identify computer devices in Bucks County that were using the BitTorrent P2P to download and share child pornography, police said.
The detective’s computer was able to connect to a device on the network, which was downloading and sharing known child pornography files, police allege. Investigators were able to complete dozens of downloads from the target computer, per the affidavit, with nearly every file depicting children as young as six engaged in sexual acts with adults.
On June 26, Comcast told police that the target IP address originated at a business on the 700 block of East Butler Avenue in New Britain Borough, per the complaint. A search warrant that was subsequently executed at the business found that Kane was employed there.
Authorities said it was also revealed that Kane was a registered sex offender, currently on federal probation related to a child pornography conviction.
On Sept. 27, the search warrant was executed at the New Britain Borough business, when Kane was the only one there opening up for the day, police said. An HP laptop was found in a back office that is used by employees, per the complaint, and child pornography files were found on it. Additionally, police said two USB drives were in Kane’s toolbox, authorities said.
The USBs contained thousands of images and videos of young children engaged in sexual acts, police allege.
Kane allegedly told police multiple times that he used the laptop to download child pornography on BitTorrent, under the noses of his employees and employer, per the complaint. He allegedly told police he copies the files from the computer onto USB drives.
Police said when Kane was the only one in the business early in the morning or late at night, he would use the laptop to view downloaded files, and he used the business’s computer and WiFi for fear of being caught doing it at home.
Kane told police he cannot use his phone to access child pornography because his phone is monitored as a condition of his probation, per the affidavit.
According to the Pennsylvania Megan's Law site, Kane was convicted in 2014 of aiding and abetting the possession of child pornography,
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Mark D. Douple.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
