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Staley facing additional child pornography charges

Portage man accused of uploading videos online to Dropbox

A Portage man previously charged with child pornography faces additional charges following an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office.

Sean Robert Staley, 26, was arraigned Thursday by Cambria County Magisterial District Judge Susan M. Gindlesperger for five felony charges of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

Staley is accused of uploading five videos of child pornography through Dropbox, which is a personal image storage app.

The criminal complaint stated the Office of the Attorney General Predator’s Section received a cybertip Sept. 13 from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children about one image Staley allegedly downloaded.

According to police, one video Staley uploaded depicts a 15-year-old male performing sexual acts in front of a computer screen.

Police completed two administrative subpoenas to Dropbox Sept. 16, and Dropbox allegedly confirmed that Staley was the owner of the account.

After serving a search warrant for Dropbox, police allegedly discovered five files that depicted children engaged in indecent contact.

The Attorney General’s Office conducted a warrant Wednesday at Staley’s property on the 600 block of Prospect Street, Portage, and only recovered an empty Google Pixel box with a receipt.

Staley was later arrested while he was at work, and during an interview with police, he said he was “uncomfortable” providing his email address to police, the report stated.

After being told by police that his name and email address were associated with the Dropbox account that had pornographic files, Staley initially denied the charges and claimed he could have been hacked.

Police said Staley allegedly later confessed to the crime, stating he does view child pornography and prefers boys and girls ages 6 years and up.

Court documents stated Staley was previously arrested for child pornography and is required to register under Megan’s Law.

Staley was detained in April of 2017 for 25 counts of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility, court documents stated.

Unable to post 10% of $80,000 cash bail, Staley is confined at Cambria County Prison.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge John Prebish Jr.

Mirror Staff Writer Calem Illig is at 814-946-7535.

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