A Pleasant Hills woman was arrested on Wednesday, accused of possessing child pornography.
A criminal complaint filed against Lauren Ciechalski says this investigation began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Kik, an instant messaging app.
The tip alleged that an account later connected to Ciechalski had uploaded four files of suspected child pornography.
The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office began investigating, serving warrants on Verizon, Google, T-Mobile and Kik for more information. Information provided by those companies included subscriber information, emails and chat logs.
Chat logs provided by Kik allege that the account connected to Ciechalski sent chats about “trading videos,” the complaint states.
Eventually, investigators were granted a search warrant for Ciechalski’s home, where they seized two electronic devices.
Per the complaint, those devices contained Kik chats where child sexual abuse material was sold or traded and 45 images of child sexual abuse material.
Investigators found five specific images of “evidentiary value,” resulting in five counts of possessing child pornography.
In an interview with investigators, the complaint states Ciechalski denied ever purposely searching for or sending CSAM, and suggested she may have been hacked.
Ciechalski posted a $5,000 bond and is set to appear in court again next week.
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