LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. – Northern Lancaster County Regional Police arrest a 58 year old Penn Township man on charges related to child pornography charges.
The arrest follows an investigation that began in January by officers with the Lancaster County Computer Crimes Task Force after criminal activity was detected on the internet. In April the investigators located a computer sharing child pornography files. They tracked down the computer’s Internet Protocol Address to Windstream and then to the subscriber’s address in Penn Township.
On July 2, at 6 am a team of officers including Lancaster County Detectives, Lancaster County Computer Crimes Task Force NLCRPD investigators, and members of the NLCRPD Patrol Services Unit executed a search warrant at 720 Holly Tree Road. Thomas Franklin Houck and a girlfriend were staying on the property in a recreational vehicle.
A computer seized from the RV was analyzed by forensic examiners and three digital video files were identified that depicted children under the age of 18 years of age engaged in acts of penetration and other prohibited sexual acts or the simulation of such acts as prohibited by statute. According to court documents, during an interview on Thursday July 2, Houck admitted that he was the sole user the Acer laptop computer seized at his home and that he had used it to download and view child pornography. He also said that he had been viewing the images for years and would immediately delete the images after viewing them.
Charges against Houck include Possession of Child Pornography, Dissemination of Child Pornography, and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility..
Following arraignment, Houck was released after posting $25,000.
