Somerset County man accused of storing child sexual abuse material on personal devices
A Somerset County man is now facing charges after the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General said he had stored "dozens" of child sexual abuse material files, including artificially-generated videos and photos.
Jeffrey L. Engel, 72, is charged with numerous felonies, including 22 counts of artificially-generated child sexual abuse material.
This is at least the fourth time the Office of Attorney General's Child Predator Section has filed the second-degree felony charge for artificially-generated material, a statute that went into effect in December 2024, according to a news release from Attorney General Dave Sunday.
"The state Legislature has given us another tool to combat offenders who possess these vile videos and images, and we fully intend to keep using it," Attorney General Sunday said. "Each time one of these files is viewed or shared it is another act of abuse and exploitation against children."
Office of Attorney General agents received a tip that led to Engel, and last week executed a search warrant at his Rockwood, Somerset County, home, where they seized a laptop and tower computer containing the abuse material.
Engel was recently arraigned and bail was set at $100,000 cash.