UNION TWP., Pa. (EYT) – An area man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly exchanging explicit photos and video recordings with a 14-year-old boy.
Court documents indicate the DuBois-based State Police on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, filed the following criminal charges against 60-year-old David Wayne Kitchen, of Rockton:
– Photograph/Film/Depict on Computer Sex Act – Knowingly or Permitting Child, Felony 2
– Unlawful Contact With Minor – Sexual Offenses, Felony 2
– Disseminate Photo/Film of Child Sex Acts, Felony 3
– Child Pornography, Felony 3
– Criminal Use Of Communication Facility, Felony 3
– Corruption of Minors, Misdemeanor 1
The charges stem from an investigation into explicit photos and videos of a juvenile.
According to a criminal complaint, the Council Bluffs Police Department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on June 6, 2019, advising that a juvenile victim had shared explicit photos and videos of his genitals over Facebook Messenger with a potential adult suspect. Police reviewed the case,” as well as the images and videos.
The complaint notes a search warrant was requested and granted for both the suspect’s Facebook page and the juvenile’s Facebook page. The search found the suspect was messaging several different teenage boys, as well as adult men, and when messaging the teen boys, he was posing as a male in his 20s and sending pictures of a young male claiming to be him.
According to the complaint, in messages between the suspect and the juvenile victim, the suspect told the victim he wished he was older, sent photos of his genitals, and asked the victim for pictures of himself.
The victim was interviewed, with a parent present, and reportedly told police he had been talking with the suspect for over a year via Facebook.
The victim reported the suspect initially sent him a friend request and then a message calling him “sexy” and said their conversations were sexual, and they would exchange pictures and videos of themselves, including their genitals. The victim said the suspect stated he was from Pittsburgh and was in his 20s, and explained he told the suspect he was only 14. The victim also said he felt it was only right to stop talking to the suspect because he was older.
According to the complaint, further review of the Facebook Messenger data confirmed the victim had told the suspect he was 14, and they both continued to send nude photos and videos to each other for several days afterward.
The complaint notes the suspect had mentioned to the victim and others he had been messaging that he lived in Pennsylvania, and the IP address for the suspect’s messages confirmed he was sending them from Pennsylvania. Information from the case was then forwarded to the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crimes Task Force, and a subpoena was served on Windstream Services for the owner of the IP address being used to send the messages.
According to the complaint, the IP address was registered to David Kitchen.
A further search of the messages found the suspect had given information about himself, stating he was an engineer for the Department of Transportation in Pennsylvania. The complaint notes Kitchen has an engineering degree and works for PennDOT as a bridge inspector. The suspect also gave his birthday as the day prior to Kitchen’s actual birthday.
On January 29, police obtained and served a search warrant on Kitchen’s residence in Rockton.
According to the complaint, when Kitchen was questioned, he admitted to using the name used by the suspect on Facebook Messenger to “talk to younger men,” and said he portrays himself as 28 years old and uses pictures of old friends “because they look better than he does in real life.” When asked to name men he has talked to, he named three names that were all verified from the Facebook search warrant. He was also able to identify photos he used to portray himself on the Facebook Messenger account and reported they are all on his cell phone.
However, the complaint states that when asked if he remembered speaking to the victim, Kitchen said “no.” He said the name “did not sound familiar,” but said he might recognize a photo if he saw one. When advised the victim was only 14 years old, he reportedly stated, “He is? I can’t believe I did that. If I had known, I wouldn’t have talked to him.” When further confronted with the Messenger conversation where the victim told him he was 14, and he still requested nude photos, Kitchen reportedly denied remembering the conversation but also said, “Well, if you have it in black and white, I must have done it. I can’t believe I did this.”
The complaint notes Kitchen also agreed to and provided a recorded statement.
When asked if there was anything he wanted to add at the end, Kitchen allegedly said, “There really isn’t anything I can add. I mean, if I did it, I did it. I don’t remember doing it. I don’t believe I would have done it, but I must have if you have it in black and white. I’m not gonna deny it. I am man enough to admit it if I did it. If I did it, I will own up to it,” according to the complaint.
The charges were filed through Magisterial District Judge Patrick N. Ford’s office on Tuesday, April 14.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 5, with Judge Ford presiding.
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