NEW STANTON, Pa. — Federal investigators are now taking over the child pornography case against a suspended state trooper.
Sean McKenzie walked into court Monday afternoon free on a $500,000 cash bail.
But a few minutes later, he was walked out in handcuffs and taken into custody by homeland security.
McKenzie was charged in March on a slew of child porn-related charges.
He was expected to have a preliminary hearing Monday, but instead local prosecutors dismissed their case and it was turned over to the feds.
”We were advised when we arrived, that Fayette County was going to be dismissing all the charges and they were going to be pursuing these through the office of homeland security and US Attorney’s Office,” defense attorney Tim Andrews said.
”They are dismissed, that does not mean we couldn’t do something later down the road,” District Attorney Rich Bower said. The allegations surfaced after an email account linked to inappropriate images was traced back to McKenzie and his Perryopolis home.
When investigators arrested him, they said he had a USB drive in his pocket with child pornography pictures, and a video of a young girl undressing taken from inside a bathroom of a local home, where McKenzie is allegedly seen setting up the camera.
We were told the indictment came down last week and his case will now be moving forward at the federal level.
”I don’t know anything about the indictment, we haven’t had a chance to look at it or talk to the US Attorney, so we’ll see where we are once that happens,” Andrews explained.
It is unclear what prompted federal agents to take over the case, we were only told it is still an active investigation. “I’m not going to discuss an ongoing investigation in regards to this matter, but very bluntly, it’s still an ongoing investigation,” Bower said.
McKenzie, a corporal with the state police for 13 years, remains suspended without pay.
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