From staff reports

LEWISTOWN — A Milroy man facing nearly 500 charges related to having sexually abusive material on his computer waived his rights to a preliminary hearing at the magisterial level on Thursday.

Charges for Todd Dwaine Shirk, 54, were bound up to the Court of Common Pleas, with his next court date being set for 9 a.m. Jan. 27 before Judge Jonathan Reed.

Court documents state that Shirk’s charges came after law enforcement reportedly uncovered more than 200 images on his computer depicting child sexual abuse material.

Shirk is facing 231 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, a third-degree felony; 11 counts of dissemination of child sexual abuse material, a second-degree felony; and 243 counts of creating obscene material, a first-degree misdemeanor.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crime Unit in Harrisburg began an undercover investigation in December 2023 into the internet sharing of child sexual abuse material on the BitTorrent file-sharing network.

During the investigation, police found a 3-minute, 33-second video showing a prepubescent girl, believed to be between 3 and 5 years old, being sexually assaulted.

Police said they were able to trace the material to Shirk through his computer’s IP address. Investigators identified 12 additional video files depicting the sexual abuse of children involving indecent contact.

A search warrant was issued April 10, 2024, for Shirk’s home at 503 S. Main St. Police said 51 items were seized during the search.

Shirk was released from Mifflin County Correctional Facility Nov. 13 on a $100,000 surety bond.