A convicted sex offender is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography via a work laptop, police said

Timothy James Kane, 44, of Macungie, Lehigh County, was charged following a joint investigation by Bensalem investigators and the Bucks County District Attorney

A convicted sex offender is facing charges after police say he used a work computer to download and share child pornography in New Britain Borough for fear of being caught at home.

Timothy James Kane, 44, of the 700 block of E. Main Street, Macungie, was charged with distribution of child sexual abuse, possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communications facility following a joint investigation this summer by the District Attorney’s Office Bucks County and Bensalem Township Police.

According to court records, Kane remains in the Bucks County Jail on a 10% bond of $1 million.

On June 20, Bensalem Township Police investigators conducted an undercover computer program aimed at identifying computer devices in Bucks County that were using BitTorrent P2P to download and share child pornography, police said.

The investigator’s computer was able to connect to a device on the network that was downloading and sharing known child pornography files, police said. According to the affidavit, investigators were able to make dozens of downloads from the target computer, with nearly every file depicting children as young as six years old engaging in sexual acts with adults.

On June 26, Comcast told police that the destination IP address was from a business in the 700 block of East Butler Avenue in New Britain Borough, according to the complaint. A search warrant subsequently executed at the company revealed that Kane was employed there.

Authorities said it was also revealed that Kane was a registered sex offender who was currently on federal probation for a child pornography conviction.

On Sept. 27, the search warrant was executed at the New Britain Borough store when Kane was the only one there that day, police said. According to the complaint, an HP laptop containing child pornography files was found in a back office used by employees. Additionally, police said there were two USB flash drives in Kane’s toolbox, authorities said.

According to police, the USB sticks contained thousands of images and videos of young children engaging in sexual acts.

According to the complaint, Kane told police multiple times that he used the laptop to download child pornography on BitTorrent in front of his employees and employer. He allegedly told police he copied the files from the computer onto USB sticks.

Police said that when Kane was the only one in the store early in the morning or late at night, he used the laptop to view downloaded files and that he used the business’s computer and Wi-Fi for fear of being caught doing so at home.

According to the affidavit, Kane told police that he could not use his phone to access child pornography because his phone was being monitored as a condition of his probation.

According to the website Pennsylvania Megan’s Law, Kane was convicted in 2014 of aiding and abetting possession of child pornography.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 15 before District Judge Mark D. Douple.

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