A Ferguson Township man was charged on Wednesday for allegedly possessing and disseminating child pornography.
Charles H. Payton, 56, is accused of uploading seven images and videos depicting children engaging in sexual acts to the messaging app Kik in January and February of 2021, according to a criminal complaint filed by Ferguson Township police.
The investigation began when Kik filed a report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the apparent uploading of child pornography by one of its users between Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, 2021, police wrote.
According to the complaint, the uploads were associated with an IP address belonging to Payton at his residence and were tied to a Kik account with a user name and email address utilizing the identity “Ted Nord.”
Payton denied having any accounts with that name. Investigators, however, executed a search warrant for his electronic devices and allegedly found multiple references to the name and accounts with the “Ted Nord” user name and email address.
He also allegedly told police that his Internet network was secured with a complex password that he never shared with anyone else.
Payton was charged with seven felony counts of child pornography and seven felony counts of disseminating images of a child engaged in sexual acts.
He was arraigned on Wednesday morning by District Judge Casey McClain and unsecured bail was set at $10,000.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 31.
A defense attorney was not listed in court documents.
