CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — Investigators describe the images found on a convicted sex offender’s phone as graphic and horrific.
Jason Meals was charged by Connellsville police Thursday with 1,000 counts of child pornography after he was arrested in December.
Meals came into contact with police when he drove three hours from Erie and showed up at Connellsville Middle School in December and tried to pick up a 13-year-old girl.
“He pretended that he was a family member of the victim and attempted to gain custody of her through the school,” police Cpl. Bryan Kendi said.
School officials foiled his plan.
Meals has since pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping, but when police searched his phone, they made a disturbing discovery.
“Upon that analysis, we learned there was — give or take — 1,000 images of child pornography on the phone,” Kendi said.
That led to Meals facing 1,000 counts of child pornography charges.
In just under a year, Connellsville police have arrested two alleged predators trying to meet up with underage girls.
“Just in our community, we’ve had a number of instances recently where older males have tried to contact underage children for the purpose of sexual activity, and almost every single time it’s been through social media applications,” Kendi explained.
Police are telling parents to monitor your kids on social media, limit their exposure by tracking the use of their apps, or get rid of it all together.
“It’s quite concerning that these predators have access to children, whether it be ... lack of parental control or lack of control through the application devices themselves, and quite frankly the savviness of the criminal to subvert the system to gain access to these children,” Kendi said.
Meals has been in jail since that December incident, and that is where he will remain indefinitely.
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