Metro

A Bedford man is behind bars after allegedly exchanging sexually explicit photos and videos with an underage girl over Discord and Snapchat.

Joshua Zane Mitchell, 44, was arraigned Tuesday by Magisterial District Judge Kevin R. Diehl on eight felony charges of child sexual abuse material and four felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor – sexual abuse. Unable to post $150,000 bail, Mitchell was remanded to the Bedford County Correctional Facility.

The charges were brought against Mitchell after state police at Bedford received a report on Oct. 21, 2025, of explicit messages being sent between Mitchell and a 17-year-old female through Discord. This was reported to have occurred in a residence along the 1190 block of Imlertown Road in Bedford Township, Bedford County, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

In an interview, a 16-year-old juvenile witness told officers he was using Mitchell’s gaming computer to play video games when he noticed a chat thread on Discord between Mitchell and an unknown juvenile female. The witness said the victim stated her age in the chat, but Mitchell made sexual comments toward her, such as “I would ruin sex for you.” At the end of the chat, the witness said the victim and Mitchell exchanged phone numbers, the police report states.

State police executed two search warrants for Mitchell’s desktop computer and cellphone on Oct. 21 and received the data extraction from his cellphone on April 29. About 3,186 messages were sent between Mitchell and the victim from Sept. 23 until Oct. 13, the report states.

When the victim sent Mitchell a regular picture of herself, Mitchell made a sexually explicit comment and asked the victim for a picture of her license to prove she would be 18 years old soon. The victim sent Mitchell a screenshot of her high school account, which listed her as a 17-year-old senior. Further investigation revealed eight nude photos of the victim in Mitchell’s text messages, Snapchat messages and photo album. Mitchell had also sent the victim two photographs of his genitals and two sexually explicit videos, the report states.

In an interview, Mitchell told officers he knew the victim was underage. He also admitted to exchanging explicit photos and videos with the victim, according to the affidavit.

Mitchell is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 20 in front of Diehl.