Westmoreland County man facing federal child pornography charges

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — Neighbors in Derry are getting answers to a lot of questions they had last year around this time.

They watched a raid unfold and found out this week a man who was living among them is facing federal child porn charges.

Neighbors watched last spring as uniformed and undercover officers raided a house on East Street in Derry.

”There was a lot of police cars, regular kind of cars, unmarked cars, and they had the street shut down and nobody knew what was going on,” Nancy Camilli said.

Almost a year later, they found out the man who lived there, Michael Wilson, was just indicted by federal agents on allegations of producing and distributing child pornography.

”You could see them bring out brown bags, that’s how we knew it was something major but we didn’t know what it was,” Camilli said.

Derry police helped initiate the investigation alongside state police and homeland security.

Wilson is facing nine counts involving the sexual exploitation of children.

The allegations are disturbing.

Investigators said Wilson coerced and persuaded children to engage in sexual activity — some not even 12 years old.

”It’s quiet down here, except for animals, but very seldom, you get ambulances and stuff but no police. Just a quiet little neighborhood,” Camilli said.

Wilson is in custody. 

Wilson has a hearing Monday to see if he will remain in custody until his trial.

He could face a minimum of 15 years and a possible fine of $2.5 million.

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