Horsham Man Had 500+ Child Porn Images: DA

HORSHAM, PA — A Horsham man has been arrested on charges claiming he had more than 500 images of child pornography depicting children who looked as young as 10 years old.

Brian Groo, 19, of Horsham, faces 167 felony counts related to distributing and possession of child pornography, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's office.

The investigation in the case began on Sept. 17, when the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.

The tip reported that a customer of Dropbox, a file storage service, had uploaded a video and photo file that depicted sex acts between an adult and a child who appeared to be 10 years old, according to the DA's office.

Prosecutors say the investigation traced the user's computer IP address to a home in Willow Grove then, after Groo's family moved, to one in Horsham.

A search warrant was executed on Oct. 10 by Horsham Township Police and Montgomery County task force members.

According to prosecutors, Groo's cellphone was seized and more than 499 images depicting children younger than 18 engaged in sexual acts or poses were found on it. A search of his Dropbox account found 37 image files and 32 video files that also depicted child porn, the DA's office said.

The charges against Groo include 65 second-degree felony counts of dissemination of child pornography, 100 second-degree felony counts of possessing child pornography and a charges of criminal use of a communications facility.

Groo was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Harry J. Nesbitt III, who set bail at $100,000 cash. He was unable to post bail and sent to Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Nesbitt also ordered that Groo have no unsupervised contact with minors and no internet or social media usage.

A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.