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Authorities in Bucks, Montco combined efforts and information to track down the man, reports said
After a police investigation which took over a year to research and compile evidence in, Horsham Township Police Department Detectives, with the help of Middletown, Bucks County police, were able to charge one Upper Dublin Township man with multiple counts related to child pornography.
John C. Spangler, 44, of the 3200 block of Susquehanna Road in Dresher, in Upper Dublin Township, has been charged with multiple felonies involving child pornography, police said, stemming from incidents that began last summer.
According to police reports, detectives in Bucks County were conducting an investigation on Sept. 7, 2023 when they discovered a believed Horsham-based IP address that was believed to be downloading undercover child pornography materials. The Middletown Township Police Department alerted Horsham police detectives, who then took over the investigation.
The Bucks police said that, on Aug. 4, 2023, during an undercover investigation, an IP address was discovered to have downloaded 57 files, with at least one of which having been identified as “a file of investigative interest,” reports said. Police said that on that date, around 9:53 a.m. and again at 11:43 a.m., a partial download was successfully completed onto the Horsham-based device, later discovered to be Spangler’s, which contained inappropriate files. Two videos were viewed by detectives and found to be child pornography-related content, said reports.
On Jan. 11, 2024, Horsham Police were given copies of the inappropriate files, which had descriptive names known to police as being terms and slang used in the child pornography circles, said the reports. Police said that through numerous computer forensic measures, they were able to track down the IP address as coming from Comcast Cable Communications LLC, an area supplier of internet services.
Following a subpoena, police were able to track the address of a woman living on Susquehanna Road in Dresher, they said. Police said they also found that Spangler listed his address to be the same as this woman’s home.
On Feb. 15, detectives from Horsham Township Police Department and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau executed a search warrant for the home in the 3200 block of Susquehanna Road, the woman and Spangler’s residence, where they said they found Spangler on location, according to reports. In total, police removed 24 storage devices, taken as evidence, reports said.
After extensive forensics, police found a user-accessible drive that was password-protected under the name of “John.” Among files for Spangler’s work, which totaled 267,880 in number, including thumbnails saved as temporary files resulting from hard drive media, were over 143 files containing children under the age of 18 in “various states of undress and engaging in sexual acts,” reports said.
Horsham Police filed charges for violations of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, Title 18, involving the Sexual Abuse of Children, as well as the Criminal Use of a Communication Facility.
Spangler posted an unsecured $50,000 bail after his preliminary arraignment on Sept. 18 and is awaiting his preliminary hearing on Sept. 27 for charges of Dissemination of photo/film of child sex acts, four counts of Child Pornography, and a single charge of the Criminal use of a communication facility, all stemming from an Aug. 4 incident in 2023.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
