Police: North Apollo man faces nearly 700 felony counts after admitting to having child porn on computer, phone

State police charged a North Apollo man with nearly 700 felony counts after he admitted to having pornographic images and videos of children on his computer and cellphone, investigators said.

Jacob Charles Busler, 31, of Clark Avenue was charged with 680 counts of possession of child pornography and one count each of dissemination of photos and films of children engaged in sex, and criminal use of a communications facility.

Busler is being detained in the Armstrong County Jail in lieu of a $75,000 cash bond, according to court records. He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge James Andring on Nov. 16.

A trooper began investigating Busler after state police received a series of notifications from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that child pornography was being traded using the Snapchat, Skype and Discord social media platforms, according to a criminal complaint.

State police said they tracked down Busler by using the internet provider information associated with the picture and image files that were transferred. The internet company released the information after state police got an administrative subpoena, the complaint said.

In July, troopers questioned Busler at his home. They say he admitted to using the social media applications to trade child pornography. He told them that he had last viewed child porn two days before speaking with investigators, the complaint said.

Police seized multiple devices from Busler’s home, where they allegedly found the hundreds of videos and photographs.

Busler did not have a lawyer listed in court documents.