County detectives accuse Fawn man of downloading child pornography; felony charges filed

A former Fawn man has been arrested on charges that he downloaded videos and photos of children engaged in sexual activity to his cellphone.

John Matthew McAteer, 38, who is now living in Plum, according to court papers, was charged by Allegheny County Police detectives with five counts of possession of child pornography and a count of criminal use of a communications facility, which are all felonies, according to his arrest papers.

McAteer was released from custody on a $20,000 unsecured bond and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing April 26 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel, court records show.

County detectives assigned to the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force wrote in a criminal complaint that they began investigating McAteer while he was living in Fawn, after receiving a series of cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Verizon identified the number associated with the phone used as McAteer’s and provided investigators with his email, the complaint said.

Detectives got a search warrant for McAteer’s home and confiscated his Samsung Galaxy Z Flip cellphone when they went to the house to look for evidence, the complaint said.

Police said McAteer agreed to speak with investigators and admitted that he uses his cellphone to view pornographic material online, according to the complaint.

When agents showed him some of the images they said were downloaded to his cellphone, McAteer gave them the pass code and told them they would find about 50 images of child pornography, the complaint said.

FBI agents confiscated the phone and did a forensic analysis of the device, on which they found images and videos of prepubescent girls and boys, including some as young as toddlers, engaged in sexual activity, according to McAteer’s arrest papers.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that McAteer no longer resides in Fawn.