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FORTY FORT — A Delaware man was arraigned on 100 counts of possession of child pornography Monday night after investigators said he viewed photos of prepubescent children appearing to be under the age of 18.

According to the criminal complaint, Shawn Henry Rullens left an external flash drive and four thumb drives at a trucking company at which he worked in early August, with members of the staff accessing them Friday to determine to whom they belonged.

Trucking company officials said Rullens worked as a tractor-trailer driver and was often out of the area.

According to the complaint, employees found the external drive containing numerous photos of nude children, mostly males appearing to be under 18 years of age.

The external drive also contained tax returns and medical records of Shawn Rullens, which led employees of the business to believe the drive belonged to Rullens.

The manager of the trucking company contacted Pittston Township police Friday, with detectives from the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office computer crime unit and a member of the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crime Unit also assisting in the investigation.

As part of the investigation, police obtained a search warrant and examined the external hard drive and thumb drives and accessed photos in several file folders.

In a file folder labeled “underwear,” they found numerous pictures of young boys wearing only underwear. In another file folder, more photos were found, including one of a prepubescent boy floating nude on a raft in a swimming pool with an adult nearby.

According to the complaint, a search warrant of the external hard drive yielded over 100 images depicting pre-pubescent boys and girls engaging in prohibited sexual acts.

Police said when they confronted Rullens, he waived his rights and admitted that the external and thumb drives belong to him.

According to the complaint, Rullens said he had been downloading similar images for the last 10 years.

Rullens said the youngest child contained in his collection was an infant, police said.

According to police, Rullens identified himself as “straight,” but then said he was mostly attracted to males. He said he viewed images of young boys as “art.”

Police said Rullens consented to a search of his iPhone, on which images of child pornography were found.

Rullens indicated over 800 images are stored on his laptop computer at his home in Delaware, according to the complaint.

Police are in contact with law enforcement officers from Delaware and the investigation is ongoing.

Rullens’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28. District Judge David Barilla set his bail at $150,000.

He remains at Luzerne County Correctional Facility for inability to post bail.

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By Geri Gibbons

[email protected]

Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons.