Crime & Safety

After 4 Years, Arrest Made in Sandy Hook Child Pornography Case

A Montville man has been arrested after a nearly four-year state police investigation turned up child pornography on a computer in Sandy Hook.

The Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes Unit began investigating the sharing of child pornography online in December 2009, eventually tracing the activity to a home on Housatonic Drive in Sandy Hook, according to state police reports.

In April 2010, police raided the home and seized "several items of evidentiary value," including files containing what police believed to be child pornography. At that time, according to reports, they began considering registered sex offender Christopher Berchem, 39, of Montville, as a suspect.

Police arrested Berchem on November 12 and took him to Troop E in Montville, where he was held on a court-set $50,000 bond. He was charged with Promoting a Minor in Obscene Performance and First-Degree Possession of Child Pornography. Berchem was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning.


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