Pennsylvania state Sen. Mike Folmer (R) has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, CBS affiliate WTA reports.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that Folmer was charged Tuesday after agents with child predator unit and the Department of Homeland Security served a search warrant at his home earlier in the day.
According to the report, the search was preceded by a six-month investigation that began March 4, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from the microblogging and social networking website Tumblr.
Tumblr reported at least one image containing suspected child pornography was uploaded by a user with the screen name hoser44. Tumblr additionally provided investigators with the user’s email and internet protocol addresses, which eventually were linked to Folmer, according to the criminal complaint.
The image, according to the complaint, depicts “a very young female child” engaged in a sexual act.
Investigators said Folmer admitted that the Tumblr account associated with the tip was his. He told detectives that he “had been dealing with some personal problems/issues and that he had received child pornography through his Tumblr blog,” the complaint states.
Images of apparent child pornography were found during a computer forensics search of the phone. “The images depicted indecent contact with a minor,” the complaint states.
Folmer is charged with sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography, and criminal use of a communication facility.
Folmer resigned after the charges were announced.
