HARRISBURG – A York County man is one of two men accused of distributing sexually explicit images through the Internet.
The other suspect from Lycoming County is charged with sending child pornographic images to a person he believed to be a 43-year-old woman with a daughter. The recipient of the images was actually an investigator working in an undercover capacity.
The arrests were made Thursday following separate investigations by the Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section. The defendants are:
- William C. Rushoe, 35, 528 Ruben Kehrer Road, Unit 36, Muncy, Lycoming County.
- Kenneth R. Church, 42, 143 Coventry at Waterford, York, York County.
Church charges
Church is accused of sending sexually explicit images to a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl. The person who received the images was actually an undercover agent with the Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section.
This arrest was made Thursday following an online investigation. The undercover agent also exchanged messages with Church in which he made sexually explicit comments, according to a criminal complaint.
Church is charged with nine counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He was released from custody after a bondsman posted a $50,000 surety bond on his behalf. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 9.
Rushoe charges
This investigation was initiated by an investigator assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
During the course of an undercover online investigation, the investigator found a listing on an image distribution website in which a person posted user information. That information stated the user’s desire to chat with a mother with young children, or a person who likes young girls, according to a criminal complaint.
Posing as a 43-year-old woman with a daughter, the undercover investigator used a messaging application to make contact. The person who responded to the undercover agent was identified as Rushoe. He sent multiple images of child pornography to the undercover agent, the criminal complaint states.
Further investigation determined that Rushoe lived in Lycoming County. The Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section made contact with Rushoe through messaging applications. Rushoe sent a second undercover investigator multiple images of child pornography, investigators said.
Investigators later made contact with Rushoe. After receiving consent to search his cell phone, they found a messaging application and user name that matched the user undercover investigators had been corresponding with during their investigation, according to the criminal complaint.
Rushoe is charged with 12 counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He is being held in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 6.
Attorney General Kane thanked the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department for its work on this investigation.
Reporting child predators
Suspected child predators can be reported to the Office of Attorney General by calling the Child Predator Hotline at 1-800-385-1044. Individuals who suspect an online predator or child sexual abuse can also send an anonymous tip to the office by texting PAKIDS + YOUR TIP to 847411
