YORK COUNTY, Pa.– A York man is facing charges after police were able to trace downloads of child pornography to his computer.
Daniel Shemonski, 34, is facing criminal use of a communication facility and disseminating photos/film of child sex acts among other related charges.
On January 9, a detective in the York County Police Department was conducting an online investigation to identify those possessing and sharing child pornography using the QBittorrent file sharing network.
The detective was able to make a direct connection to a host with an identifiable IP address and successfully downloaded one file: a video that depicted a pre-teen child committing a sexual act.
On January 22, the detective got a search warrant that directed Comcast Cable Communications to release the information regarding the user with the IP address that had uploaded the video.
Police received an address in the 600 block of Colonial Drive as to where the activity had occurred.
On February 7, police obtained a search warrant for the home, and on February 8, a search was executed at approximately 7:00 a.m.
Upon arrival, police found that a landlord shared the residence with an upstairs tenant, identified as Shemonski.
Shemonski told police that he had a computer and other electronic devices in the home in which his landlord did not use, and that he knew how to use file sharing programs like QBittorrent.
During an interview with police, Shemonski admitted to use file sharing programs to view and download child pornography, and then be upset with himself and delete the videos or images.
Shemonski admitted to police that he has utilized file sharing programs numerous times over the past 3-4 years to view child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
Now, Shemonski is facing charges.
