A Manns Choice man was taken into custody after a cybertip from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children led state police to allegedly discover files of child pornography on his cellphone.

Brad Lee Merkey, 48, was arraigned Thursday by Magisterial District Judge Tonya M. Osman on 10 felony counts of disseminating photos/videos of child sex acts. He was remanded to the Bedford County Correctional Facility in lieu of $500,000 bail.

A monthslong investigation began on May 4, 2024, when the NCMEC received a report from Snapchat that a user uploaded a video of apparent child pornography. State police at Bedford then viewed the video and confirmed it depicted a juvenile female about 12 years old performing a sex act, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

On Aug. 29, 2024, officers submitted a subpoena to AT&T for the subscriber data associated with the Snapchat account. The data was received on Sept. 9, 2024, and showed an email address for Lee’s Excavating and a physical address along the 5600 block of Milligans Cove Road in Manns Choice, Bedford County. Officers also searched the account’s affiliated phone number and found it was registered to Merkey, court documents state.

The police report states a search of Lee’s Excavating returned an email address and physical address matching those associated with the user account. A search warrant to seize any electronic devices at the Milligans Cove Road residence was approved by Osman and executed by officers with state police at Bedford and an agent with PA State Police Computer Crimes Team South West on March 20, 2025.

Merkey was located within the residence and, during the search, officers found a cellphone with the number associated with the Snapchat account under a mattress. Merkey confirmed the phone was his and voluntarily provided officers with its pin, saying it would contain “a few” child pornography videos/photos. In an initial search of the phone, officers found numerous videos and photos depicting the sexual abuse of “prepubescent” juveniles in a deleted folder, the report states.

Merkey was then taken into custody while his phone was submitted into evidence. Officers noted in their police report that Merkey’s criminal complaint would be amended with additional counts once a full forensic examination of his phone was completed.

Merkey is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in front of Osman on April 2.