HORSHAM TWP, PA – Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, Abington Township Police Chief Patrick Molloy and Horsham Township Police Chief William Daly announce the arrest of Xing Jian Ge, 23, of Horsham, for possessing and distributing child pornography and related charges.
In September 2020, detectives were conducting an online investigation to identify individuals possessing and sharing child pornography using a peer-to-peer file sharing network.
Through the investigation, a specific IP address was located that was sharing child pornography files. From Sept. 1 to Sept. 21, 32 image files were downloaded using a direct connection. A review of the image files found that they contained photos of children engaged in sexual acts or in sexually explicit poses.
Subscriber information for the IP address was traced to the defendant’s residence in Horsham. On Jan. 22, 2021, a search warrant was served on the residence and numerous electronic devices were seized, including a computer tower and hard drive that were found to contain 1,049 video files and 264 image files of child pornography.
Of those files, more than 100 showed indecent contact with children, including children under 5 years old being sexually assaulted. Ge was arrested and charged with 50 felony counts of possessing child pornography, six counts of distributing child pornography and criminal use of a communications facility. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Harry Nesbitt, who set bail at $100,000, with additional conditions of no nefarious internet usage and no contact with minors. The defendant posted bail and was released.
A preliminary hearing was set for 11:15 a.m., April 15, 2021 before Judge Nesbitt.
Major Crimes Detectives of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, along with specially trained and sworn detectives from police departments in Montgomery County, routinely work with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force to protect children from Internet predators by aggressively and proactively investigating Internet crimes that exploit children.