A Smethport Man is in McKean County Jail on Child Pornography charges.
According to Court documents, on August 30th the Pennsylvania State Police were alerted by the Centers for Missing and Exploited Children of a Verizon Cloud account containing images and a video of child pornography. An investigation eventually linked the files to 64-year-old Daniel Walter Merrick.
Troopers executed a search warrant for Merrick’s residence on February 10th and reportedly found 886 indecent images and videos of children.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Merrick told troopers that to his knowledge he was the only person in his house that would be responsible for the pornography. He allegedly told troopers he has started looking at pornography due to his wife refusing to be be intimate with him, which drifted into a two month fascination with child pornography. Merrick also allegedly told troopers that he had an addiction and would seek help from a therapist.
Merrick is in McKean County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.