A Chehalis man accused of uploading sexually explicit photos of children to the internet is now facing felony charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
Tanner Girolamo McNelly, 20, was charged Wednesday, July 24, with five class B felonies — four counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count of second-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct — after the national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC) notified local law enforcement that someone in Lewis County had uploaded suspected child pornography to a Discord server, according to court documents.
A Discord user reported the images to Discord on Jan. 21, 2024, according to court documents.
Discord subsequently closed the account, removed the images and forwarded the information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which filed a tip with ICAC.
Detectives with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reportedly confirmed the Discord account was associated with McNelly and had been active since June 8, 2021.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for McNelly’s Discord account on July 1, 2024, and contacted McNelly on Tuesday, July 23.
When questioned, McNelly allegedly admitted to using Discord to send and receive illicit images of children. He allegedly “said something came into his brain somewhere that it was okay to be attracted to younger people, kids,” said “the purpose of the photos were a ‘weird curiosity,’ and agreed it was for sexual gratification ‘to an extent,’” according to court documents.
He allegedly said he had obtained over 100 photos of children and adults “over a period of time” and “did trade photos from time to time,” according to court documents.
McNelly was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on July 23. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail following his preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Wednesday, July 24, after McNelly’s parents, who he lives with in Chehalis, agreed to cosign on his bail.
“These are very serious allegations, ones that present a threat to community safety, but if his parents are willing to cosign, then I’ll certainly agree to that,” Judge Joely Yeager said during McNelly’s preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
McNelly’s conditions of release include provisions prohibiting him from having any access to the internet and from having any contact with minors.
His arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 1.
