A Clarion man originally facing 151 felony charges related to child pornography entered a guilty plea Wednesday to two counts of child pornography.
Alexander Johannes Latuhihin, 45, was first charged with 100 counts of child pornography, 50 counts of dissemination of photo/film of child sex acts and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.
Latuhihin’s guilty pleas to two of the charges were accepted Wednesday, and Clarion County President Judge Sara J. Seidle-Patton told him he could face up to 20 years in prison and a combined $50,000 fine as each count carries a maximum 10-year sentence and $25,000 fine.
The case against Latuhihin was the result of an investigation into a report of sexual abuse of children/child exploitation.
A criminal complaint says that in June 2019, a Google representative submitted a report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The report advised that several images of child pornography were uploaded to Google Drive and Google Photos between May 4 and June 12, 2019, and were able to provide an IP address used by the individual uploading the child pornography.
The IP address was researched and found to belong to Comcast cable, the complaint said.
In August 2019, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Northwest Computer Crimes Unit completed an administrative subpoena to Comcast in reference to the IP address for the subscriber information, the complaint said.
Comcast responded to the subpoena the same day and advised that the address in question on the given date and time was assigned to an address on Boundary Street in Clarion under the name Alex Latuhihin, the complaint said.
The incident was assigned to the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crime Unit, and an investigation revealed 42 images and one video, according to the complaint.
The images depicted young girls in various states of undress and also showed a young girl being undressed by a nude male who later appeared to have intercourse with the girl, the complaint said.
A search warrant was then served at the Boundary Street address last November, according to the complaint.
Latuhihin said he had stored between 50 to 100 images and videos of child pornography on his Google Drive account, the complaint said. He reported using his phone to connect to the internet and download the images and videos and transfer them to his Google Drive account, according to the complaint.
The complaint notes the phone was seized from Latuhihin’s bedroom and was forensically analyzed.
Numerous images and one video depicting child pornography were found on the phone, according to the complaint.
A search warrant for Latuhihin’s Google Drive and Google Photos accounts was served, and the results of the warrant were received in December.
The complaint says more than 100 images and videos of child pornography were discovered as well as more than 50 images of child pornography involving indecent contact between pubescent and prepubescent females and males and adults.
Latuhihin will be evaluated to determine if he is a sexual predator.