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SALEM TWP. — A Berwick man was arraigned on 31 counts of child pornography this past Friday.

Mark Alan Raper, 49, was arrested on Feb. 16 after an investigation that started last year when Google Inc. reported that images of suspected child pornography had been uploaded to their Google Photos service.

According to the criminal complaint:

Google Inc. alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) after becoming aware of the content “on or about” Mar. 4, 2021. Google was able to determine the IP address being used by the device that uploaded the images, as well as a name, date of birth, phone number and email address.

Authorities were then able to determine the internet provider that the IP address belonged to. A subpoena was served on Atlantic Broadband on Mar. 31, 2021. Atlantic Broadband then provided the physical address to which the IP address was registered.

Upon searching the name and birthdate provided by Google, authorities were able to locate a driver’s license for Raper. While the name on the address provided by Atlantic Broadband was not Raper’s, authorities saw that he used it as his residential address registered through Pennsylvania State Probation and Parole, and that he also used the landline registered to this address to converse with his probation officer. Raper’s priors are unrelated to child porn.

Search warrants executed on the date of arrest found Raper in a camper on the property where police also seized his cellphone.

In an interview with police, Raper claimed he had been trying to “bait in” child pornographers as an act of vigilantism. He claimed he had previously been exposed to this material, and while he would sometimes “immediately delete” it, he would also save images to use as bait. He claimed he was amassing information by gaining the confidence of people interested in child porn as well as people who were seeking sex with children to later bring to authorities.

Upon review of his cellphone, authorities found 31 images depicting child nudity and sexual contact.

In lieu of $200,000 bail, Raper remains housed at SCI Smithfield. A preliminary hearing is set for Mar. 22 with District Judge Matthew C. Christopher, who also oversaw the arraignment.