Facebook reports Lebanon man for child porn
johnlatimer@ldnews.com
Notifications from Google and Facebook about the uploading of child pornography have led to charges of sexual abuse of children against a Lebanon man.
Troy L. Whitman, 38, of 18 N. Seventh St., Room No. 6,, was charged Thursday with 25 counts of sexual abuse of children after a Pennsylvania State Police investigators discovered hundreds of images and videos of prepubescent girls being raped by men.
According to the criminal complaint, Whitman's activities first came to light in September 2015 when Google sent a CyberTip Report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that 13 images of child pornography had been uploaded to two Yahoo email accounts registered to Whitman.
A second CyberTip Report from Facebook was made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on June 11 indicating that 33 videos of child pornography had been uploaded to Whitman's Facebook page.
When investigators from the state police Bureau of Investigation's Central Computer Crime Unit confronted Whitman at his Lebanon apartment on Oct. 21, he admitted the email accounts were his, according to the criminal complaint. At that time, Whitman also willingly turned over his laptop on which 10 pornographic photos of children were found, police said.
The laptop was then confiscated for a forensic examination, which uncovered 705 images and 169 videos depicting child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
Whitman is being held in Lebanon County Correctional Facility after being arraigned by District Judge Thomas Capello who set his bail at $25,000. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled for January..