A Cranberry Township man has been charged with more than 106 counts relating to possession of child sexual abuse materials following a lengthy investigation.

State police charged Charles William Bennett, 48, on Friday, Dec. 20, with 100 counts of possession of child sexual abuse materials, three counts of disseminating photos of child sex acts and three counts of criminal use of a communication facility, all of which are felonies.

According to an affidavit, investigators were sent a tip on Oct. 24, 2021, from Internet Crimes Against Children, which received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, revealing three files containing suspected child sexual abuse materials were sent through an Instagram direct message to another user account.

On March 9, 2023, police received another tip from the same task force revealing one file containing suspected child sexual abuse materials was uploaded to Bing’s image search. On Aug. 12, 2023, another tip indicated five files containing suspected child sexual abuse materials were sent through Facebook Messenger.

Police traced information back to T-Mobile, which responded to a subpoena by providing the subscriber and billing address of Bennett’s wife.

On June 28, investigators executed a search warrant at the address. Bennett refused to be formally interviewed but did confirm his name, date of birth and phone number, which was the same as the CyberTips that were sent to authorities, the affidavit states.

Multiple electronic devices were previewed on scene and seized from the home. Following a forensic examination, more than 650 files depicting graphic images and videos of juvenile children were located. There were also more than 1,700 images and videos of child exploitative material, according to the affidavit.

In addition to the child sexual abuse materials, the affidavit states Bennett possessed multiple images of neighborhood teenage girls in bathing suits found to be taken from inside his residence.

Bennett failed to post bail and is being held at Butler County Prison. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3 at 9 a.m. before District Judge Kevin Flaherty.