Youth Softball Coach Facing Child Porn Charges

Authorities say a local youth softball coach is facing child porn charges.  Police say they received a CyberTip about a person using the “Kik” messaging app who had uploaded multiple files of child sexual abuse material to their account, saying it showed children between the ages of 10 and 13 in a sexual manner.  After some investigation, they say they were able to determine that the IP address belonged to a Verizon customer and in tandem with the Attorney General’s Office, they were able to subpoena Verizon.  Police say that information led them to forty-one-year-old Michael A. Charlton of Charleroi.  Police say they served a search warrant at Charlton’s house on the 100 block of Park Street in September and he admitted to using the Kik accounts and said that he had been in group chats on the app that shared child sex abuse material, but added that he “was not in it for that.”  The criminal complaint notes that Charlton has a rose tattoo on his right forearm and investigators said they were able to identify him in videos where he talked about underage children in a sexual manner by matching the tattoo to the videos.  Charlton was a softball coach for Steel City Athletics.  Charlton is facing a total of nineteen charges, eighteen of which are felonies. He is currently being held at the Washington County Jail.