During a press conference Monday in Bellefonte, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna and First Assistant District Attorney Joshua Andrews announced plans to expand the list of charges against Samuel Friday, 67, Michael Woomer, 66, and Morris Reese, 64, and gave an update on the case that came to light last week.

Currently, the three men are each charged with 10 felony counts of sexual abuse of children – child sexual abuse material stemming from allegations that they participated in the production of child pornography and human trafficking, according to criminal affidavits filed in Centre County court.

Cantorna described the case as active and “very much ongoing,” and anticipates the initial charges filed against all three men will be withdrawn in the next 48 hours and replaced with expanded charges as the full scope of the alleged abuse comes into focus.

Investigators have received “numerous calls” with information related to the allegations that Friday would pay teens for sex acts, which were filmed and photographed.

Reese

Friday’s updated charges will include a “range of felony charges related to human trafficking, production of child pornography and possession of child pornography,” the district attorney’s office said in a news release.

Woomer and Reese will face felony charges related to patronizing a victim of human trafficking and production of child pornography, the release states.

Cantorna said that the number and scope of charges faced by the three men could grow as additional victims come forward.

“I do not expect them to be the final charges that are filed,” he said.

A team of state police investigators at the Rockview barracks in Centre County are analyzing video files recovered from Friday’s basement, according to a press release, and these files suggest that all three men “were assisting with or at least aware that juveniles were being recorded.”

Woomer

Andrews said that every adult male suspected to have been involved at this point has been arrested, referring to Friday, Woomer and Reese.

All three men remain incarcerated in the Centre County Correctional Facility without bail. Their preliminary hearings are set for Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Casey M. McClain.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in Friday’s case, PSP Rockview received multiple ChildLine referrals Nov. 13. These reports stated that juveniles were being paid to perform provocative and sexual acts in the basement of Friday’s Tyrone home

A Children’s Advocacy Center interview was conducted in relation to the case on Nov. 17, with information from the interview used to authorize a search warrant for Friday’s home.

The warrant was served later that day, according to the affidavit. The search turned up “multiple items of evidentiary value,” including numerous photos and videos of children posing and performing sexual acts with Friday.

One individual file that was recovered during the search contained more than 200 photos and videos of child sexual abuse material, according to the affidavit, with two additional adult males seen conducting sexual acts with a minor on video.

Friday was taken into custody, and in an interview at the Rockview state police barracks, he allegedly admitted to taking nude photographs of a juvenile female while she was stepping out of the shower, and admitted he had some sexual involvement with the same female, according to the affidavit.

The affidavits filed for Woomer and Reese are identical, both citing the ChildLine referrals resulting in a search on Friday’s residence that revealed the trove of child sexual abuse material that includes all three men having sexual relations with minors on camera.

Since the search, investigators have been following leads and enlisted the aid of a Penn State University Police detective to access video files stored on SD cards recovered from Friday’s basement.

Since the investigation became public, law enforcement officers have been called by several people from Blair and Centre counties with information about the case, a news release states.

“There is now reason to believe that Mr. Friday had been bringing underage teenagers, mostly from Blair County, to his basement to engage in sexual conduct as early as the 1990s,” the report states.

“Whether you are a teenager, a parent, an adult survivor, or someone who has silently carried this burden for decades: You can come forward. You deserve support. And you deserve to be heard,” the DA’s office said in a statement.

Anyone with information should contact PSP Trooper Jonathan Hodges at 814-355-7545 or Centre County Detective John Aston at 814-355-6735.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.