WILKES-BARRE — A Wilkes-Barre man had an early wake-up call at his West Hollenback Street residence early Wednesday morning.
Special agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office served a search warrant at the home owned by Jeffrey Allan Berlew, 65, as his Internet Provider address was used to download a child sexual abuse image in February, according to court records.
A Cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was provided to the Warren County, N.J., prosecutor’s office. After a detective in Warren County discovered the Cyber tip was linked to an address on West Hollenback Street in Wilkes-Barre, the information was passed on to special agents with the Attorney General’s Office in Pennsylvania.
Armed with a search warrant, special agents along with detectives from the Luzerne County district attorney’s office served the warrant at Berlew’s residence just after 6 a.m.
During an interview, Berlew admitted he views pornography and came across child sexual abuse images, according to the criminal complaint.
Forensic analysis of multiple electronic devices from Berlew’s residence returned at least 89 images of child sexual abuse materials, the complaint says.
Berlew was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo of Plains Township on 51 counts of possession of child sexual abuse materials and one count of criminal use of communication facility. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $100,000 bail.
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