Bedford man facing over 1K child-porn related charges; 3 laptops seized by police

BEDFORD COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — State police say a Bedford man is facing over 1,000 child pornography-related charges following a months-long investigation.

According to the affidavit, troopers say the investigation began in February of 2023 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report, from Microsoft, about possible images of child pornography being uploaded to the Bing search engine.

Upon further investigation, authorities say the sexually graphic image was traced to an address along Blackburn Ave., in Bedford Borough, where 75-year-old Gary Hollis reportedly resided.

Police say in August, a search warrant was executed at Hollis' home, and authorities seized three laptops that were in his possession.

Investigators say a forensic search of the laptops led to the discovery of multiple hard drives/SD cards containing hundreds of images of child pornography and child sex abuse.

Troopers say all of the laptops also showed a history of repeated online searches for such images.

According to online court records, Hollis was arraigned Thursday afternoon on 533 counts each of felony child pornography and producing/presenting obscene material of a minor, along with one count of criminal use of a communication device.

Court records also show that Hollis has already posted bail.

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