UPPER SAINT CLAIR — Upper Saint Clair police say a group of moms accused a man of taking pictures of their young daughters inside the Target at South Hills Village.
Lt. Michael Lindenfelser with Upper Saint Clair Police Department told Channel 11 that when his officer got to the Target, he had to break the group of moms away from the suspect.
“There was a brief struggle between the mothers of the teenagers and the suspect over what was on the phone,” Lindenfelser said.
Police questioned Michael Behun, and he denied taking photos of the girls.
However, when officers looked through his phone, investigators say they found 4,400 images, and the majority of photos were teens and preteens modeling. At least 50 of the photos were child pornography.
Some of the girls in the images appeared to be between 9 and 15 years old.
“Without getting too involved in what was on the devices, it’s disturbing that individuals can consume this info from the internet,” Lindenfelser added.
At this point, police say it’s unclear if Behun actually took photos of the girls at the Target. They’re looking to see if he has other devices.
“It’s very disturbing because so many children go into that store. It’s a great store for young kids. It’s terrifying,” Upper Saint Clair resident Carol Prantl told Channel 11.
She said she can’t believe this investigation is happening in her community.
“It’s sickening. It’s just sickening. There are a lot of people out there who are plain evil and sick. Those poor kids,” Prantl said.
A special agent with the Attorney General’s office who deals with child predator cases helped Upper Saint Clair police in their investigation.
During the questioning, police say Behun admitted to searching for child porn.
TRENDING NOW:
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
