A Schuylkill County woman faces felony charges after investigators say she admitted to searching for, saving, and distributing child sexual abuse material.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has charged Mallory Stout, 20, of Tamaqua, with multiple felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, dissemination of that material, and criminal use of a communication facility.
Police say they executed a search warrant at Stout’s residence on the morning of April 21. During the search, Stout agreed to answer questions and told police she searched for child sexual abuse material on the social media platform X.
Stout told police she would screen record the material on her phone and send it to her boyfriend on platforms including Snapchat and Telegram, investigators say. She allegedly admitted to sending the material as recently as a month prior to the search and acknowledged the files depicted children as young as five years old.
Stout told police her exposure to child sexual abuse material began when she was approximately nine years old while communicating with adult men on social media.
The investigation began after a cyber tip reported that a Snapchat account uploaded child sexual abuse material on Oct. 19. Police say they traced the IP address to a Tamaqua home and connected the account’s display name and date of birth to Stout. Police say they also found two prior cyber tips from 2022 and 2023 associated with a phone number linked to Stout regarding material received on Instagram.
Following the search of the home, a forensic review of Stout’s two cell phones uncovered at least five videos of child sexual abuse material sent to her boyfriend on Telegram, police say. Police say investigators also found a text message from Stout stating, “LMK if you ever send me CP on Twitter so I can screen record it, now I can delete these from my photos.”
Police say they also located at least five images of child sexual abuse material depicting nude children or children engaged in indecent contact saved on one of her phones.
Stout was arraigned on charges on Tuesday before Magisterial District Court Judge James Reiley, who set bail at 10% of $20,000. Bond was posted the same day, according to court records. A preliminary hearing before Judge Stephen Bayer is scheduled for April 28.
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