A State College man is facing a felony child pornography charge after an investigation uncovered a large collection on his computer.
Adam Zydney, 26, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography on Monday after police found a cache of 591 files on his computer downloaded with a torrent program.
Zydney is the son of State College school district board member Laurel Zydney and has previously worked with children in a number of roles.
According to his resume, posted on his personal website, the State College native was an instructor and teaching assistant at the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth from 2010 to 2014. He is currently a graduate student at Penn State studying mathematics, and earned his undergraduate degree from the university in 2011.
A criminal complaint filed by Ferguson Township police says that an undercover investigation led officers to the IP address at Zydney’s apartment, where police found the child pornography files on his computer. The complaint describes in graphic detail one of the videos, which reportedly shows a “white prepubescent girl” exposing herself.
A search warrant executed on July 31 found Zydney and another person at the apartment, where the former told police he didn’t wish to discuss the incident. An attorney who represents Zydney contacted the police and set up an interview on August 4, where Zydney informed police that he is sexually attracted to young females.
“He acknowledged that this attraction seemed ‘weird’ at approximately sixth grade,” the complaint says. “He stated that he began to look at child porn when he was in his mid teens and used it for the ‘same reasons’ as regular porn.”
Zydney told police that he later began using torrent programs, which are a form of peer-to-peer file sharing, to download child pornography. According to the criminal complaint, he stated that his fiancee and a former girlfriend “knew of his pedophilia but did not know of his collection of child porn.”
School district spokesperson Chris Rosenblum confirmed that Zydney is the son of a board member.
“Ms. Zydney is a valuable member of our board,” school board president Amber Concepcion said in a statement Monday. “She and her family are going through a very difficult time and we will respect their privacy at this time.”
Attorney Roy Lisko, who court documents identify as was not available for comment on Monday afternoon. Zydney was released from custody on a $15,000 unsecured bail.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect information about Zydney being held on bail. He was actually released on an unsecured bail without being held in the county correctional facility. The initial report also misidentified Zydney’s attorney and omitted the word “not” from a quote, which dramatically altered its meaning. StateCollege.com deeply apologizes for this error.
