A 59-year-old Casper man who allegedly told Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents that he was collecting child pornography on his cellphone so he could report it to Facebook and local police now faces six felonies for those videos, as well as drug charges.
Mark Anthony Chanez appeared in Casper Circuit Court on Thursday on six counts of sexual exploitation of children and three of possession of a controlled substance for a third or subsequent offense. The drug charges are also felonies.
Court records show DCI agents received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on April 2 that alleged a Google account had uploaded 190 files of “apparent child pornography.”
Records show a search warrant resulted in the discovery of 48 files depicting child pornography that included videos of adults involved in sex acts with children and at least 1,083 files depicting child erotica.
Agents obtained a search warrant for Chanez’s person and vehicle and executed them on Nov. 20.
“Chanez was reluctant to be truthful with agents regarding his involvement with child pornography, and his story changed several times cellphone through the interview,” the arrest affidavit states. “Chanez initially provided the wrong passcode to his (phone). … Chavez later provided the correct passcode.”
