A Homestead man was charged in federal court in Pittsburgh with distributing child sexual abuse material after Swedish officials said they uncovered evidence linking him to the crime.
Charles John Beanner, 52, was arrested Wednesday.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, which was originally filed under seal, the Department of Homeland Security was first contacted by the Swedish government through Europol, an international crime-fighting organization.
In December 2024, Sweden began an investigation into the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Multiple suspects were arrested, the complaint said.
As part of that case, investigators said they found recordings of video calls that included Beanner showing the other participants videos of child sexual abuse. He used the name “TwistedPAfun” on the calls, investigators said.
In the videos, Beanner had words written on his body in black marker to include: “PEDO,” “I
Additionally, investigators were able to identify Beanner as the suspect by checking a number they saw on his arm in one of the videos.
It was his Social Security number, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Beanner would play videos of men sexually abusing children — some less than 6 months old — during the video calls.
Beanner, who said in one of the recorded videos that he worked as a flight attendant, distributed video files, in one instance, to 95 other people in a group chat on the Signal app, the complaint said.
Federal prosecutors have asked that Beanner remain incarcerated pending trial.
A hearing on that request is scheduled for Tuesday.