Wayne County District Attorney A.G. Howell today announced the arrest of Nicholas Counterman, age 25, of Lake Ariel. Counterman was arrested on May 3, 2023 and charged with one (1) count of Possession of Child Pornography and one (1) count of Criminal Use of a Communication Facility, each graded as a felony of the third degree.
According to the police criminal complaint affidavit of probable cause filed by Wayne County Detective Michael McMorrow, the investigation began after Google, LLC. reported that an image of apparent child pornography had been uploaded to Google from Counterman’s mobile device. Google then reported the incident to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Overall, NCMEC received a total of six (6) reports of apparent child pornography being uploaded.
Ultimately, a search warrant was served at Counterman’s residence by members of the Pennsylvania State Police Northeast Computer Crime Unit, officers from the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. At that time, police seized electronic items from Counterman’s residence and interviewed him about the uploads. As a result of the investigation, Counterman was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography.
A preliminary arraignment was conducted by Magisterial District Judge Bonnie Carney and Counterman was remanded to the Wayne County Correctional Facility on $50,000.00 secured bail. His next scheduled court appearance is May 10, 2023 at 9:00 am.
Pennsylvania State Police North East Computer Crime Task Force consists of detectives from the Luzerne County Detectives, Lackawanna County Detectives, Wayne County Detectives, Lycoming County Detectives, West Hazleton City Police Department, Hazleton City Police Department, Town of Bloomsburg Police Department, Kingston Township Police Department and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
*The filing of criminal charges is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Commonwealth against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the Commonwealth has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant enters a guilty plea to the charges.
