Lewisburg man faces child pornography charges

Justin Strawser, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read
2

Apr. 22—MIFFLINBURG — A Lewisburg man accused of possessing child pornography allegedly confessed to being a "pervert" and asked to be taken to jail, according to state police.

Gregory Eugene Thomas Jr., 39, of Lewisburg, was charged with 12 felony counts of possession of child pornography. The charges were filed by state Trooper Andrew Petros, of the state police Computer Crime Unit, in the Mifflinburg office of District Judge Jeffrey Mensch.

Facebook reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Cyber Tip Line that an image had been allegedly uploaded to the social media platform on Dec. 2 on Thomas's account. The image depicted a nude young girl seated against a beige background, according to state police.

On April 2, Petros subpoenaed Google LLC for information concerning the email address associated with the account. The information provided allegedly showed the email belonged to Thomas, police said.

The profile picture on Facebook also matched Thomas' driver's license, police said.

On Thursday, the state police's Bureau of Criminal Investigation Northeast Computer Crime Task Force with the assistance of state police in Milton, executed a search warrant on a residence in the 100 block of Century Village in Buffalo Township, police said.

After encountering Thomas, Police seized Thomas's cellular phone from the front pocket of his jeans that he was wearing. Numerous pictures and videos of child pornography were allegedly found on this phone, as well as the email associated with the Facebook and Google accounts in question, police said.

In multiple instances before, during and after reading Thomas his Miranda rights, Thomas allegedly said, "I'm a pervert, can you just take me to jail?" according to court documents.

Thomas allegedly told police he has been viewing child pornography for eight years, but his habits have increased within the last three years. He allegedly said he views it daily, police said.

Thomas said his Facebook account was shut down in December due to violations of the terms of service. He created a new email, which was associated with the account in question, and continues to use it, police said.

The task force agencies include the state police Northeast Computer Unit, Dallas Township Police Department, Bloomsburg Police Department, Hazleton City Police Department, West Hazleton Police Department, Wyoming Regional Police Department, Kingston Police Department, detectives from Lycoming, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike counties and FBI Williamsport.

Thomas was arraigned Thursday in front of Mifflinburg District Judge Jeffrey Mensch and released on Monday after posting $25,000 cash bail through professional bondsman Thaddeus M. Smith, of Milton. Thomas is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. April 30.