Delco man arrested on child porn charges after three cell phones, Chromebook seized, police say

A Delaware County detective, who also serves as a member of a federal task force on Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), followed up on a January tip, which this week led to the arrest of a Norwood man for child pornography possession.

According to the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Media Lab/Kik, regarding the possession, manufacturing, and distribution of child pornography. DCCID reviewed the tip noting four files that contained child sexual abuse material. Two of the videos were unique, detectives said.

The first video, lasting 25 seconds, depicted sexual acts involving a female estimated to be 8- to 11-years-old, while a second video around 49 seconds in length, depicted a girl age 9 to 11, per police. Via subpoena, DCCID were able to obtain an IP Address from Comcast Communications, as well as the physical address of the subscriber.

On April 8, detectives obtained a search and seizure warrant for an apartment in the unit block of West Winona Avenue in Norwood, Pa. The DCCID, along with Norwood Police, served the warrant at the apartment.

Matthew James Alessandreine, 38, of the unit block of West Winona Ave., Ridley Park (mailing address), was home at the time, but did not answer the door for police. Police said that, while seeking a key from the unit’s landlord, Norwood police could hear Alessandreine “walking overhead in the apartment.”

Alessandreine later answered the door for police, explaining the tip from the NCMEC. Alessandreine told police that he had “lost his cellphone the night prior in an unknown location,” said an affidavit of probable cause from the DCCID. Detectives located a key to a safe in the apartment, on Alessandreine’s bed, they said. A small safe on Alessandreine’s dresser was located and opened using the key, the affidavit said.

Police located a Galaxy A16 and a Samsung SMA236U telephone. Alessandreine later confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy was his phone and confirmed the last four digits of the phone number. According to the affidavit, Alessandreine refused to speak to detectives, but told a police sergeant that he “knew why detectives were in his apartment, and he could no longer log into his Kik account.” He additionally admitted to the sergeant, police said, that he was involved in “group chats on Kik that were trading child pornography.”

Police utilized the Telegram application to find Alessandreine’s account, assigned to his cell phone number. Within the Telegram app, police said a chat was located in which Alessandreine was attempting to purchase child sexual abuse material from another user. According to the affidavit, a screen recording in the chat depicted “various files of child abuse sexual material.”

The affidavit stated that three total cell phones and an Acer Chromebook were seized and submitted for forensic examination. Results of these examinations are still pending, police said. As the phone depicted child sexual abuse material, Alessandreine was takken into custody and charged.

Alessandreine faces three felony counts of Child Sexual Abuse Material, two felony charges of disseminating photo or film depicting such materials, and multiple charges of criminal use of a communication facility. Alessandreine had a preliminary arraignment on April 8, and a monetary bail of $250,000 (10% of) was set. Alessandreine is held in county jail, unable to post such bail.

Alessandreine awaits a preliminary hearing slated for April 30 at 9 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Andrew Goldberg. 

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.