Lower Providence Man Charged With 100 Counts Of Child Porn, Child Abuse: DA

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — A Lower Providence man has been arrested and charged with more than 100 felony counts of distributing child pornography, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office announced.

Warren G. Southard, 56, also faces charges of sexual abuse of children, the DA said.

An investigation began on Sept. 5 when detectives on electronic surveillance discovered a computer that had been specifically modified to anonymously share files, the DA said.

When detectives connected to the computer, they received 158 sexually explicit images and 14 sexually explicit video files. The images and videos showed prepubescent girls engaged in a variety of sex acts, sometimes including abuse from adults and animals. Other images showed infants and toddlers being sexually assaulted by adult men, the DA said.

An investigation traced the computers to Southard's Lower Providence home. An HP laptop in Southard's shed contained the pornographic files, the DA said.

When police asked the suspect if he knew why they were at his home, he said "yes, because I was downloading child pornography," according to the criminal complaint.

Bail was set at $100,000 and Southard failed to post. He was remanded to Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 18.

Image via Montgomery County District Attorney's Office