Accused Child Predator Waives Right to Preliminary Hearing

A former state trooper from Venango County charged by the state attorney general's child predator unit waived his right to a preliminary hearing before district Judge David Mark Tuesday afternoon.

, 61, sat stooped over in his chair, shuffling his feet and adjusting the shackles when the judge silently slid court paperwork for him to sign before being escorted back to the Washington County Jail, where he has been housed since charges were filed last month.

McElroy was arraigned before Mark on charges he made unlawful contact with minors ("obscene and other sexual materials") and criminal use of a communications facility.

The charges were filed after he arranged to meet the girl in Canonsburg. In reality, she was an undercover agent with the state Attorney General’s office who was using the online profiles of young teens.

State Attorney General's agents accused McElroy, 61, of Tologo Road in Cooperstown, of using the Internet to sexually proposition the "girl," transmitting a nude webcam video and then traveling to the Pittsburgh area to meet the girl for sex.

McElroy was arrested by agents of the child predator unit, assisted by Canonsburg police, last month when he arrived at a predetermined in the borough location to meet the girl.

Following his arrest, acting Attorney General Bill Ryan said that agents obtained a warrant to search McElroy's vehicle and located a number of the gift items he had allegedly promised the girl, including a personally engraved silver necklace and a new computer webcam.  They also found a prescription pill bottle containing Viagra along with lubricant.

After executing a search warrant at McElroy's home, agents seized a computer and webcam that will be analyzed by the Attorney General's Computer Forensics Unit as part of the ongoing investigation.

McElroy is charged with one count of unlawful contact with a minor (related to sexual offenses) and one count of criminal attempted unlawful contact with a minor (related to sexual offenses), both first-degree felonies each punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 fines. He also is charged with two counts of unlawful contact with a minor (related to obscene and sexual materials and performances) and one count of criminal use of a communication facility, all third-degree felonies each punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines.

According to the criminal complaint, McElroy used the screen name "iamtheone7890" in an Internet chat room to approach an undercover agent on April 5.  At the time, the agent was using the online profile of a 13-year old girl.

McElroy is accused of beginning a graphic conversation with the girl during that initial online chat, asking about her sexual experience and instructing her to masturbate, Ryan said.  McElroy also is accused of encouraging the girl to delete the transcript of their online conversation "so mom doesn't find it."

Over the next several days, Ryan said, McElroy engaged in a series of Internet chats with the "girl," expressing his desire to meet her for sex and explaining in extensive detail the sex acts he wished to perform with her. Ryan said McElroy offered to give the girl a computer webcam so that she could send him pictures, and offered to bring the gift to her house "someday when mom works but there is no school."

According to the criminal complaint, McElroy asked the girl if she had school vacation on the Monday following Easter, and then proposed traveling from Venango County to Canonsburg. McElroy is accused of offering to give the girl a necklace and to tell others that it was from her "bf (boyfriend) in school."

Ryan said that in the days before the meeting, McElroy sought to verify the girl's age by asking when she would have her 14th birthday.  He also is accused of discussing in detail how various state laws apply to sexual activity between adults and young teens.

He also is accused of using his computer to send the girl a webcam transmission that showed him standing in front of his computer—nude from the waist down and engaging in sexual activity—and making a series of calls to what he believed was the girl's cell phone. According to the criminal complaint, at least three of those calls were made using telephones from a high school in Venango County where McElroy worked as a substitute teacher.