CHELTENHAM, MD – Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Cheltenham Township Police Chief John Frye announce the arrest of Harley Strauss, 47, of Glenside in Cheltenham Township, on felony charges related to possessing child pornography.
On March 29, 2021, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau received Cybertips from Kik Messenger, Twitter and Facebook via the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force related to 11 images/videos of suspected child pornography.
Detectives determined the images were child pornography, involving children less than 13 years of age. They traced the IP address related to each of the three accounts to the defendant’s residence on South Easton Road in Glenside.
A search warrant was served on the residence on April 2, 2021, and Strauss’ iPhone was seized. A forensic analysis of the cellphone by detectives found that it contained 313 photographs and 73 videos of children engaged in sexual acts and in various stages of undress.
Two hundred eighteen of the images/videos were children under the age of 13 engaged in prohibited sexual act. Strauss was charged with 100 felony counts of possessing child pornography and 100 counts of criminal use of a communications facility.
He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth McHugh Casey, who set bail at $20,000 unsecured. A preliminary hearing was set for 11:30 a.m., May 13, 2021 before Magisterial District Judge Christopher J. Cerski.
Special Victims Unit 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.