- Lebanon County State Sen. Mike Folmer resigned Wednesday.
- On Tuesday, Folmer admitted to state investigators that child pornography files linked to his email were his. He also had at least 2 images of child porn on his iPhone during interrogation.
State Sen. Mike Folmer Resigns Amid Child Porn Charges
A state Senator from Lebanon County resigned Wednesday, just hours after admitting to “personal issues” that led him to share and store child porn.
According to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star website, Folmer’s resignation was announced by state GOP leadership on Wednesday.
As president of the Pennsylvania Senate, I call for Senator Folmer’s immediate resignation or rapid expulsion from the chamber.
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 18, 2019
This resignation leaves a vacancy in the 48th district, which Folmer served. Early Wednesday, Folmer’s Senate website (senatorfolmer.com) was scrubbed clean of his name.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced he filed felony child pornography possession charges against Folmer.
The investigation into Folmer’s alleged wrongdoings dated back to 2017. That’s when oversight staff at the social media site tumblr flagged an image uploaded from one of its users.
An investigation headed by the AG Office’s Child Predator Section, Lebanon City Police, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleges that username is linked to Folmer.
In a statement on Tuesday, Shapiro said:
“This defendant serves as a state Senator and was entrusted to honor and represent his community in the Pennsylvania Capitol. Tonight, our Office arrested Mr. Folmer for possession of child pornography and charged him with Sexual Abuse of Children, Possession of Child Pornography, and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility. I will continue to say it—no one is above the law, no matter what position of power they hold. I will continue to work to protect children and hold those who abuse them accountable.”
“Dealing with some personal problems”
A signed affidavit reveals that an image appearing to be child pornography was uploaded to tumblr allegedly from Folmer’s account, handle name: hoser44.
After investigators linked Folmer to the account, a search warrant was conducted at his Lebanon home. At the time the warrant was executed, just before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Folmer was at his Lebanon office. He went home to meet investigators. Folmer also turned over his iPhone, according to the police documents.
The affidavit says Folmer refused to have an attorney present during an interrogation at his home. There, he admitted to owning the tumblr account with the suspected child porn image. Investigators also say they found 2 images of child porn on his iPhone.
“Michael Folmer stated that he had been dealing with some personal problems/issues and that he had received child pornography through his tumblr blog,” a signed statement from Supervisory Special Agent Gordon Goodrow reads.
Read the full investigation report
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