A 60-year-old man being sought by local authorities after a child pornography investigation was arrested in West Virginia, according to court documents obtained by this news organization.
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Mark Wills, of Hulmeville Borough, was wanted on charges including photographing, filming or depicting a child sex act on a computer, child pornography, invasion of privacy, criminal use of a communication facility and other offenses, according to an arrest warrant issued last Thursday.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which has been looking for Wills, arrested him near Clarksburg, West Virginia on Wednesday night.
Wills is awaiting extradition to Bucks County.
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According to the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Wills is being held in a jail without bond.
The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia said they received word Wednesday that Wills was in West Virginia, which led to local deputy marshals arresting him without incident at the Meadowbrook Mall in Bridgeport, West Virginia.
The investigation began Dec. 16 when Bucks County Detectives received tips from Kik and Snapchat reporting a user sharing suspected child sexual abuse files.
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A review by detectives confirmed the files appeared to be child pornography, police said.
A subpoena to Verizon traced the IP address of the account to Wills’ home in the 300 block of Main Street in Hulmeville Borough.
On Jan. 24, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Wills’ home. They seized four cell phones, a computer, three USB drives and handwritten documents listing names and dates of birth of men and mostly teenagers, with notes on some, police said.
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Investigators stated they also found instructions on deleting social media accounts and apps, as well as notes about girls who showed nudity online, with examples in court papers indicating the girls were teenagers.
Detectives found “several hundred” recordings of Wills interacting with girls who appeared underage. The recordings included instances where the girls removed their clothing, performed sex acts, and where Wills performed sex acts, court documents stated.
Law enforcement officials are working to identify the girls in the videos, they said.
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Residents on Main Street in quiet Hulmeville Borough reported seeing county detectives and U.S. Marshals at the home last week as investigators were seeking Wills, who was not present. The search for Wills continued over the weekend by county and federal law enforcement.
The investigation is conducted by Bucks County Detectives and Warrington Township police, with assistance from a federal Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
“Every child deserves a safe environment, and the arrest of Mark Wills demonstrates the U.S Marshals Service commitment to protecting the innocent” said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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Wills has a prior criminal record, including crimes related to stolen vehicles.
In 1993, Wills was featured in Time Magazine as “one of Philadelphia’s biggest car thieves,” with the article stating he had been stealing cars since age 14.
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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.
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