Man arrested for child porn

Suspect’s 35 felony charges include aggravated indecent assault, sexual assault

A two-year investigation by Altoona police has led to charges against a city man who allegedly took sexually explicit photos of an 11-year-old girl.

Corey G. Fowler, 36, of 503 Bellview St., Apt. 2, appeared before Magisterial District Judge Todd Kelly for a preliminary arraignment after his arrest Wednesday afternoon by Altoona police on a list of felony charges -- 35 counts in all -- that include child pornography, aggravated indecent assault of a child and sexual abuse of a child by photographing a child in a sex act.

Fowler is accused of taking sexually explicit photos of the girl, posing her nude while exposing her genitals with his hand. The girl later revealed during an interview at the Child Advocacy Center in Bellefonte that this occurred three times and in another instance, Fowler had her slide her shorts and underpants to the side to expose herself.

According to Altoona police, the investigation started in 2015 when the girl revealed the abuse to a friend and Altoona detectives were put on the case. On Oct. 9, 2015, Altoona police seized Fowler's cellphone and other electronic devices as investigators feared Fowler would erase or otherwise destroy evidence.

Altoona police Lt. Ben Jones pointed out that once the allegations came to light, Fowler's access to the girl was cut off and social services in another county also became involved to guard against any further abuse.

While a forensic examination of Fowler's devices was underway, investigators allegedly found evidence Fowler had erased his electronic devices and then used various software programs designed to scrub the files completely so police could not extract them.

A forensic examination of Fowler's devices by Altoona police Detective Cpl. David Dey did turn up one picture of the 11-year-old girl who made the allegations. That photo matched the girl's description of the sexually explicit photos she said Fowler had taken of her, police noted.

Police allegedly found other child pornography images in their search.

Fowler is also accused of sitting the girl on his lap and fondling her while forcing her to watch pornography. In one of these alleged incidents, Fowler violated the girl with his hand, police said. The girl told police Fowler told her not to tell anyone.

Other evidence recovered by investigators from a hard drive of Fowler's computer included three images of online magazines with titles such as "Man's World," "Playground Find" and "Teen Rapemeat," which were rife with child rape fantasy images and captions.

A caption in one of the magazines said, "Joe would use the fake photoshoot pictures to advertise little Bethany on the dark-net once he was finished with her." The online magazine cover depicting a girl in a bikini blowing bubbles further stated, "It usually took a month of constant rape before a 12 yo (sic) learned how best to be a slave and serve her new masters."

Police indicated in the charges the online magazine materials showed Fowler's proclivity for sexual material featuring underage girls.

Another cover shot of an online magazine of a young girl in a bathing suit read, "Raping the souls out of pretty young teens is a fine thing to live for."

Fowler muttered "Oh, please" and "Come on" as he read over the charges before his arraignment while also pointing out the allegations went back two years. Detective Cpl. Nichole Douglas requested a high cash bail, telling Judge Kelly, "We believe these charges -- one being 22 counts -- create a danger to society if Mr. Fowler were released."

Douglas said Fowler went to great lengths to hide evidence of his crimes from police, so it was likely he would also go to great lengths to avoid the charges by fleeing the area. Douglas also contended Fowler made comments to another detective as to how he wanted to kill her, what she said amounted to a death threat.

Fowler balked at the detective's assertion he made any threat or would not appear for future court proceedings.

"There's never been a threat on anyone's life," Fowler told the judge, insisting that he was neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk since he's lived at the same address for five years and held the same job for 10.

"I need to get an attorney. … I need to keep working and paying bills," Fowler said. He indicated he did not yet have an attorney.

Kelly set bail at $150,000 cash and further stipulated that should he post bail, Fowler was to have no contact with any minor children, even his own, unless it was supervised by the office of Blair County Children, Youth & Families. When Fowler asked the judge to reconsider bail and release him on an unsecured bond, Kelly simply said, "No, I can't do that."

Outside Judge Kelly's Fifth Avenue office after the arraignment, Fowler had a two-word response to the allegations.

"Not guilty," Fowler said as officers loaded him into a patrol car headed for the Blair County Prison where he will await his Sept. 6 preliminary hearing.

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.