Local: Shippensburg pastor charged with possession of child pornography
Shippensburg — The Attorney General's Child Predator Section charged Keith Bell, pastor of the Church of God in Upper Strasburg with two counts of possession of child pornography, according to The Sentinel.
Bell, who lives in Shippensburg, pleaded no contest to the charges, which were placed on him in June of 2013.
An investigation uncovered files containing images of children participating in sexually related acts, which led to Bell's arrest. The 55-year-old religious leader is accused of viewing three of these images, which he retrieved from a file sharing network, according to a criminal complaint.
Bell claims he is unaware how the images got onto his computer, but he did admit to using the file- sharing program to get music for his daughter's wedding.
On June 20, 2013, he was sent to Cumberland County Prison on $150,000 bail. A sentence is scheduled to be issued on May 5.
-The Sentinel
State: Gov. Wolf responds to winter weather
Harrisburg — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has not been in office for more than a week and was already faced with a weather related challenge.
With the onset of winter storms across the commonwealth, Wolf signed a disaster emergency proclamation on Jan. 26, in order to aid state and local authorities with the recent snowstorms.
According to WFMZ-TV 69 News, Wolf said he signed the document for the commonwealth to distribute its resources where they are needed in a timely manner.
Several organizations, including PennDOT, the health department, the turnpike commission and the state police, are helped by this proclamation.
Wolf asked travelers to stay clear of the roads if they can, but the proclamation he signed does not prohibit such action.
-WFMZ-TV 69 News
National: Manhattan banker arrested for spying
New York City — According to ABC News, federal officials said a Manhattan banker was arrested for being a part of a Russian spy ring.
Evgeny Buryakov, the accused banker who was identified in a criminal complaint, is said to have worked with Russia's foreign intelligence service as an unofficial agent. Buryakov allegedly posed as an employee of a Russian bank in a Manhattan office.
Attorney General Eric Holder said, according ABC News, that the charges against Buryakov represent the United States' efforts to stop the illegal gathering of information.
Two others, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy, allegedly worked with Buryakov to gather U.S. intelligence and recruit female spies.
-ABC News
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