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Boy Scout Advisor Arrested On Child Pornography Charges

SHALER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A Shaler Township man with reported connections to the Boy Scouts has been arrested, accused of having child pornography.

Police with a search warrant showed up at 41-year-old Christopher Sokiera's apartment in Shaler early Tuesday, waking up some neighbors.

"I guess they came in and there were lights on. I heard a knocking at a door," said neighbor Collenn Nesbitt.

Police charged Sokiera with possessing child pornography.

According to court papers, in a search of his computers, they allegedly found more than 90 images of both boys and girls, the youngest being a toddler. They also allegedly found naked images of Sokiera.

Neighbors say they didn't expect anything like this.

"It's a little surprising," said neighbor Justin Butela. "He always just seemed like a quiet individual, always kept to himself. Like I said, I could maybe count on one hand how many times we said more than two words to each other."

KDKA's David Highfield: "Did you know he worked with the Boy Scouts?"

Butela: "I saw him in his troop leader uniform a number of times. Yeah."

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He told police that he was an advisor for a local Boy Scout chapter, and that he's involved in camping trips with the kids. But according to court papers, he told police he never touched a child.

The Boy Scouts were not available for an interview, but released a statement:

"This behavior is unacceptable and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands. While the allegations are unrelated to Scouting, upon learning of these reports we immediately removed this individual from our programs for the safety of our youth members and participants, and precluded him from any further participation in the organization."

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