Arlington youth group leader charged for sharing child porn
ARLINGTON, Texas - A 24-year-old church youth group leader from Arlington is facing federal charges after being accused of exploiting children on a popular chat app.
U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said Andy Matthew Hass is a computer programmer who also led a middle school boys’ youth group at a North Texas church. She did not name the church.
Hass allegedly used the app Kik to share sexually explicit images of young boys.
Kik automatically flagged his account and reported the child pornography to law enforcement officials. They were able to use his IP address to track him down.
While being questioned, Cox said Hass admitted to using Kik to share at least 100 images of child porn, some with children as young as 8 or 9 years old.
He is charged with transporting a depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct via interstate commerce and appeared before a judge for the first time Wednesday.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.