YORK, Pa. — A New York man has been convicted of production of child pornography charges spurred from an investigation that began because of an argument between a father and his teenage daughter in York County, Pennsylvania.
Charles Porterfield, 37, of Springville, New York, committed the offense as a registered sex offender, and those charges carry a mandatory penalty of life in prison, according to the United States Attorney's Office, the Western District of New York.
In September 2019, a York County father stated that he saw the victim doing something on her phone that he "did not like," according to the criminal complaint. It was then that the victim's parents discovered text messages and other sexually explicit content on the victim's cell phone.
Northern York County Police say that during an interview with the victim in October 2019, she said that she used the app Kik to communicate with adult men, and said that she had sent explicit images and videos to them in exchange for electronically sent gift cards.
She also told investigators about her conversations with "Charles" and that she had sent photos to him.
According to the criminal complaint, PayPal records revealed that Porterfield had sent the victim $100 in August 2019.
After the interview, the Northern York County Police contacted the FBI regarding the investigation, and a search warrant was executed on Porterfield's phone in January 2020, and he was interviewed after meeting with the Erie County Sheriff's Office deputy to fill out paperwork related to his sex offender registration, according to court documents.
During that interview, Porterfield admitted that the day he was off of supervised release from his prison sentence, he paid a 13-year-old girl to produce videos and images of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, Porterfield told investigators, "Did I have a lapse in judgment? Yeah. But, I'm in treatment at the VA."
Porterfield's sentencing is scheduled for May 23, 2023.
