Credit: Bristol Township Police
A registered Megan’s Law offender has been arrested and charged with 25 counts of possessing child pornography.
Andrew Potts, 45, of the Levittown section of Bristol Township, was taken into custody by Bristol Township officers Wednesday. Lt. Terry Hughes said police wanted to take Potts, who works as a truck driver, into custody as soon as possible and this week presented their first chance.
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“We wanted to get him off the street as soon as possible,” Hughes said.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed against Potts, a relative of the 45-year-old called police on February 11 and reported finding child pornography on his family member’s cell phone. Police officer Charles Winik responded to a home on Plumtree Turn and spoke with the family member.
The family member said he went through Potts’ cell phone after it was left out when the 45-year-old was taken to the hospital and observed “obvious” child pornography, according to court papers.
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Police said the family member reported seeing “sexually explicit” text message conversation with two people. The messages reportedly included talk of sex acts, getting pregnant, role playing and attempts to get the people on the other end to say explicit things. The two people Potts is alleged to have talked to with messaging apps Kik and Skout said they were between 12 and 14, according to police.
Using a search warrant, police examined Potts’ phone and found the explicit text messages with three users on the phone apps. They also discovered various websites with names like Young Little Girlies, Real Young Cuties, Petite Preteens, Porno Child Forum, H ARD_CORE P.DO FILES and other similar names, court papers say. Files containing child pornography and erotica were also said to be found on the phone.
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Potts is a tier II Megan’s Law offender following a conviction for unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility for an incident more than a decade ago in Sellersgrove. According to state police, tier II offers have to register as an offender for 25 years and check in with authorities twice a year.
The family member told police they knew they had to report what they had seen on the phone because he was fearful another child could end up getting hurt.
Hughes told LevittownNow.com the investigation is continuing and more charges are expected to be filed. He added the investigation spans the United State and Canada.
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“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
The case was filed in court by Detective Greg Beidler.
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Potts was video arraigned before on call District Judge William Benz and sent to county jail on 10 percent of $250,000.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
