Antonio Hernandez Charged With 100+ Child Porn Images

Pennsylvania State Police said Friday, Aug. 1, that a man from Caernarvon Township is suspected of keeping over 100 child pornographic pictures and movies on various electronic devices in his house.

A keyboard for a computer.

On Thursday, July 25, Antonio Hernandez, 57, consented to forego his preliminary hearing before Judge Raymond Sheller, enabling his case to proceed to Berks County Court, according to authorities.

Hernandez was the subject of an investigation by detectives in April after a social media account that was sharing pictures of child pornography was reported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Later, an IP address at his home on the 200 block of California Road was linked to the account.

When officers carried out a search warrant at the residence in May, they found a laptop, external hard drives, thumb drives, and a phone. More than 100 images and films of child pornography were found on the devices, according to investigators.

According to prosecution filings, Hernandez told authorities he had never seen or owned child pornography and denied using the social media account linked to the transmissions.

According to authorities, he has been charged with two charges of criminal use of a communication facility, possession of material pertaining to child sexual abuse, and the dissemination of images of child sex activities.

Hernandez is currently out on unsecured bail of $50,000. The charges were filed by Trooper Nicholas Cortese of the Pennsylvania State Police, and the case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick.