Montco Man Kept Child Porn Cache, Chatted With 14-Year-Olds: DA

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA , — A child porn investigation dating back to early 2024 has led to the arrest of a Montgomery County man who bragged about his sexual chats with young girls and kept a large cache of child pornography, authorities announced Friday.

Matthew Pappalardo, 38, of Lower Providence Township, faces 45 counts of possessing child pornography, possessing instruments of crime, and related counts.

Investigators found an encrypted chatroom in early 2024 where users discussed attempts to use the Internet to get in contact with potential child victims, as well as to share explicit material, the DA said.

Pappalardo, who went by the usernames “TheMarquisdeSade” and “S-7" in a variety of online chatrooms, shared child porn images with an undercover officer, as well as stories of his various sexual experiences with minors, the district attorney's office said.

Pappalardo told the officer that he had slept with a 17-year-old girl and that his "two favorites" that he had held explicit chats with online were both 14 years old, according to a criminal complaint.

He also bragged that the two 14-year-olds had wanted to meet him for sex, and when the undercover officer asked him why he didn't, he said "Lol I have a good life and thoughts of jail," the complaint states.

The undercover agent also asked Pappalardo how he hid all this from his wife.

"We sleep separately because of different schedules so that helps," Pappalardo said, according to the complaint.

Police said they served search warrants with Google, Comcast, and other companies to identify Pappalardo as the man behind the "S-7" account. At this point in the investigation, in Nov. 2024, Pappalardo was out of the country, but when he landed in Florida, U.S. Customers searched his belongings and found nude photos of children on his phone, the DA said. They also discovered chats with multiple social media messaging apps where he was talking with other 13 and 14-year-old girls, officials said.

A Nov. 16, 2024 warrant on his home resulted in another 167 photos and 43 videos of child porn, according to authorities.

He was not charged until July 24 because it took a long time to recover the evidence from his devices and to review it, officials said. Charges against him were announced Aug. 1.

He was released on $75,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 10.