A 44-year-old Bedminster resident who was formerly a police chief in Brecknock Township in Berks County turned himself in Dec. 10 after an arrest warrant was issued charging him with possessing and distributing child pornography and related crimes, New Britain Township Police Department said.
Investigation of the case against Robert Geist, of the 2000 block of Bedminster Road, began in June when a New Britain officer, who is part of the PA Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and a member of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, downloaded files being shared on the Internet, police said.
The child pornography included a naked female believed to be younger than 15 standing in a hot tub and a portion of a video with the name 6YO Babyj – Bedtime Rape, according to information in the Affidavit of Probable Cause.
After finding the location of the computer from which the child pornography was being shared, officers from Bedminster, Penndel Borough and New Britain Township went to Geist’s home with a search warrant, police said.
When the officers approached, Geist’s father, who was in the garage, announced in a loud voice that the police were at the house, police said.
Robert Geist was seated in front of a computer in the home, police said.
Officers involved in the search found that a program was being run to delete files from the computer and stopped the process, police said.
The computer and other items were taken back to the New Britain Township Police Department and a second search warrant was obtained to examine the contents, leading to the arrest warrant being issued, police said.
Geist was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Robert Schnell Jr., and released on $25,000 unsecured bail, police said. A preliminary hearing before Schnell is scheduled for Jan. 17, police said.
