Man make first appearance in child pornography case

A Vancouver man accused of possessing about 70 videos depicting child pornography made a first appearance Friday in Clark County Superior Court.

Mason M. Herpel, 30, appeared on suspicion of 15 counts of first-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

According to a probable cause affidavit, a Vancouver police officer was at an Internet Crimes Against Children training in Wisconsin last month and discovered an IP address from Vancouver that was using a peer-to-peer network to share child pornography. The IP address downloaded several files and at least 10 were child pornography.

The IP address traced back to Herpel’s residence, the affidavit said.

Police served a search warrant and seized a computer from his bedroom. An analysis of the computer found files that matched the shared files previously recovered and an additional 60 videos depicting child pornography, court records said.

Herpel allegedly admitted to having used the software to download numerous genres of pornography, including child pornography. He also told police he moved some of the files to a secured folder on his computer, according to court documents.

During his court appearance, Judge Daniel Stahnke set Herpel’s bail at $100,000. Herpel will be arraigned July 22.