Child Pornography Possession Leads To Charges For Montco Man: DA

NORRISTOWN, PA —A 25-year-old Horsham Township man has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography with images of children between the ages of 6 and 12, authorities said

Christopher Matton, 25, of Horsham Township was arrested on felony charges, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Horsham Township Police Chief Scott J. Fida announced Tuesday.

The investigation began when Reddit reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that one of its users had uploaded and shared six images that were suspected of being child pornography, authorities said.

Members of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) members reviewed the images and determined that the images were child pornography, involving males and females between the ages of 6 years old and 12 years old.

Montgomery County Detectives traced the IP address related to the provided email account to the defendant’s residence on Easton Road in Horsham.

On Nov. 9, 2022, detectives served a search warrant on his home and seized the defendant’s electronic devices including a laptop, hard drive, and cellphone, which were forensically examined.

The cellphone was found to contain more than 100 photos that depict juveniles and infants in varying states of nudity and sexual acts, authorities said.

The defendant was arrested and charged with more than 100 felony counts of possessing child pornography, distributing child pornography, and criminal use of a communications facility.

Matton was arraigned Thursday before Magisterial District Judge Jay S. Friedenberg, who set bail at $10,000 cash. The defendant posted bail and was released.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., March 16, before Magisterial District Judge Harry J. Nesbitt III.

Detectives of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, along with specially trained and sworn detectives from police departments in Montgomery County, routinely work with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force to protect children from Internet predators by aggressively and proactively investigating Internet crimes that exploit children.