Former Air Force Lt. Charged with 35 Felony Counts of Child Porn

A former United States Air Force lieutenant and fugitive from justice was video arraigned Wednesday morning before District Judge Andrea Duffy on multiple charges of distributing and possessing child pornography.

Jayson Dicho, 31, of Heather Court in in Hatfield Township, is charged with five felony counts of disseminating photos or film of child sex acts, 30 felony counts of child pornography and 30 felony counts of criminal use of a communication device, according to Montgomery County docket records.

Dicho has a preliminary hearing set for May 25 at 10 a.m. before Duffy.

Dicho is a former United States Air Force lieutenant, who was honorably discharged in 2007 after eight years of service, according to police. He is also the recipient of numerous service medals. According to his LinkedIn profile, Dicho worked in the aircraft maintenance office.

Dicho's attorney, Adam Zucker, said his client would undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

On March 24, 2012, Detective Mary Anders of the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office County Detective Bureau received an investigation package from Officer Jeff Cummins of New Britain Township Police, according to the criminal complaint. Cummins is a member of the Bucks County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

On Feb. 15, 2012, Cummins was acting undercover and conducting searches for individuals trading in child pornography, according to the complaint.

Cummins found a computer on the Gnutella network that was sharing 21 files, most of which were previously identified as "files of interest" and files of child pornography, according to the complaint.

Cummins conducted a direct connect to the computer, whose IP address was 68.84.219.147. The suspect was using  BearShare Lite 5.2.5.1 and the Global Unique Identifier was 4DDE2E3402BD3251DFDE677D7724E0E4, according to the complaint.

At 3:56 p.m. Feb. 15, Cummins downloaded the files listed from the IP address and received five complete downloads, according to the complaint.

The downloaded files were reviewed by Cummins and Anders, and determined all five files depicted children under 18 engaged in sexual acts and child pornography, according to the complaint.

Screen captures were taken during the downloads to show they were downloaded from a computer with the above IP address.

A check of publicly available records online indicated the IP address was assigned to Comcast Cable Communications. On March 15, Cummins obtained a court order from Judge Jeffrey Finley authorizing Comcast to pony up the subscriber of the IP address, according to the complaint.

On March 16, Verizon Legal Compliance responded to the request, indicating the subscriber as Jayson Dicho of Heather Court, according to the complaint.

Police obtained a search warrant on April 11 from Duffy for Dicho's residence. On April 12, at 5:50 a.m., Hatfield Township Police Detective David Schanes and Anders executed the warrant, according to the complaint. 

Two computers and four other items of evidence were seized, according to the complaint. 

On April 13, Schanes conducted a forensic examination of the HP Pavilion desktop computer and confirmed that Dicho had BearShare Lite 5.2.5.1 installed and confirmed the above GUID, according to the complaint.

Schanes found more than 30 images and videos of child pornography depicting children under 18 engaged in sexual acts or in sexually explicit poses, according to the complaint. Schanes also found the five files that were downloaded by Cummins.

Duffy set bail at $40,000 cash, $10,000 less than requested by police.

Dicho is a fugitive from justice, according to police. He has no record in Pennsylvania, police said.

Dicho told Duffy he is currently unemployed. He was a former production supervisor at Merck for Hospira and was recently terminated.

Police said that during a search of Dicho's Hatfield Township home, an AR-15 was recovered, as were two handguns.

The discovery of weapons did not sit well with Duffy, who was reluctant to reduce bail by $10,000.

"You don't often hear about assault rifles in the middle of my neighborhoods," Duffy said to Dicho. "I feel it's an inappropriate bail."

As part of his bail conditions, Dicho cannot have contact with children.

Police said Dicho was a flight risk; Zucker said Dicho has family in Hagerstown, MD and has "friends and co-workers who support him."

"At $50,000 bail, he is not in a position to go anywhere," Zucker said. "He was unable to gain employment when incarcerated."

Police said Dicho was born in the Phillippines and grew up in Hawaii, where he also holds residence.

Duffy asked Dicho what he was doing in Nevada when the warrant was issued. Zucker said his client was in Las Vegas to visit his girlfriend and look for employment.

Zucker said Dicho was paying rent on his apartment in Hatfield while incarcerated in Nevada.