Shawn "Sage" Smick

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

A Philadelphia Software engineer is accused of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material following an investigation in Berks County, the district attorney announced on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

The man, 30-year-old, Shawn T. Smick, who goes by "Sage" on social media, was charged with sexual abuse of children for dissemination and possession of child pornography, along with criminal use of a communications facility, according to Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams.

Detectives began investigating in April after receiving a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding files uploaded to KIK Messenger, authorities said.

The IP address linked to the uploads was traced to Smick, and a search warrant executed at his former Caernarvon Township residence uncovered a mobile phone containing numerous child sexual abuse images and videos, investigators detailed.

Smick admitted to possessing and sharing the material during a later interview, according to the DA’s office.

He surrendered to Berks County detectives on Monday, Aug. 18, and was transported to the Berks County Sheriff’s Central Processing Center. Magisterial District Judge Kauffman set his bail at $75,000 unsecured, officials said.

Smick is a software engineer, according to his publicly available social media.