The former editor of a popular news website faces child pornography charges in Massachusetts, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office says.
Slade Sohmer, the ex-editor-in-chief of The Recount, was charged with two counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of dimensions of child pornography, the district attorney says in a press release.
Authorities received a tip in June that sparked an investigation into Sohmer, authorities say. Sohmer’s phones and multiple electronic devices were seized in October, according to the release and a police report. Detectives allegedly found more than a thousand explicit images and videos, hundreds of which depicted child sex abuse images, with children as young as three or four being assaulted, police say.
The Berkshire County Law Enforcement Task Force* opened an investigation into the Defendant on June 16, 2023, following a CyberTip** from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Law enforcement conducted a search warrant on October 17, 2023, and seized Mr. Sohmer’s phones and multiple electronic devices. According to a press release by the Berkshire District Attorney's Office.
The Task Force is utilizing the Berkshire District Attorney’s State Police Detective Unit’s digital evidence lab to process the devices; however, due to the extremely large number of pornographic materials found on the devices, the investigation remains ongoing. It is expected that additional charges will be brought once the devices have been fully processed.
At this point in the investigation, the Task Force has discovered over a thousand pornographic images and videos. Hundreds of which include child pornographic images and videos. The pornographic material includes the rape of minors as young as approximately three to four years old. Thus far at least one child pornographic video was produced by Mr. Sohmer.
The sum of pornographic material above does not include additional images and videos believed to be on various messaging apps including Telegram Messenger and Snapchat.
The Task Force also uncovered messages between Mr. Sohmer and a second individual in 2021 on the Telegram Messenger app. The messages include many chats strategizing how to lure, kidnap and rape children. Some messages go into graphic detail about how to facilitate the rape of a child. Additionally, the chats between the two individuals include an exchange additional child pornographic videos and images.
Defense requested bail be set at $75,000. The Commonwealth requested cash bail of $100,000. Bail was set at $100,00 cash with following conditions:
- No access to the internet
- Notify probation of location
- No contact with children under the age of 18
Trash Media Group has submitted a records request and will update upon arrival.