Pittston man accused of possessing 100 child porn images

Aug. 20—PITTSTON — A Pittston man was locked up Thursday evening after police say he was in possession of around 100 images of child pornography.

Todd Richard Thorne, 57, was taken into custody on 100 counts of possession of child pornography and a count of criminal use of a communication facility after police received a tip about him.

According to police, another individual with access to Thorne's computer reported they found the images while looking for other, unrelated photos, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

This individual spoke with police in two interviews this week, saying they found the images at some point between January and March of this year, and came across a photo of a nude pre-teen girl on the computer.

Police say they went to Thorne's home at 132 Mill St., Pittston, and informed him of the allegations he was facing. Thorne allegedly said he was not in possession of such images, but said he had viewed them in the past.

Thorne, who police say was "extremely cooperative" in the affidavit, signed a consent to search form, allowing officers to to search flash drives, external hard drives, his phone and his computer.

Officers say they found "multiple images depicting pre-teen and underage nude/partially nude girls in sexual poses" on the flash drives.

During an interview, police say Thorne admitted to "transferring pictures of nude juvenile females from his phone to his computer," adding that he organized them into specifically labeled files among other pornographic material.

Approximately 100 photos were found on his cell phone.

Thorne was lodged at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $25,000 bail.