WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — A man from Washington County is behind bars facing nearly 300 charges related to child pornography.
“They’re horrific,” Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said regarding the images and videos Zachary Gentile of Washington County was alleged to have saved and sent online.
“These are horrific charges, and the children are as young as under 5 years old,” Walsh said.
Gentile was charged with 141 counts of child pornography, 139 counts of dissemination of images or video of child sex acts, six counts of criminal use of a communication facility, and two counts of tampering with evidence.
According to the criminal complaint, the first report to the CyberTip line was by the Kik messaging app in March 2022. They said an account linked to Gentile uploaded more than 75 images and videos of child porn from his college apartment.
In December 2022, Pitt Greensburg police told investigators Gentile destroyed a laptop and threw it away.
Facebook filed a report to the tip line in September, and Snapchat did in October. That all came back to Gentile, now living in Washington County.
According to court documents, Gentile admitted to police he last saved child porn images four or five years ago.
Police say they also found child porn images connected to Gentile’s Google account.
His bail was set at $250,000 which Walsh said should send a message, “That you’re going to be punished and that justice is going to be sought out by this office and by law enforcement,” when it comes to child porn.
Students at Pitt Greensburg said they’re glad police never stopped investigating.
“I’m very thankful for that because it could have been my little cousin, it could have been someone we all know,” said Olivia Griffin. “I’m glad it’s under control and he’s locked up.”
Gentile is due in court on Dec. 11.
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