Homestead Resident Charged with Distributing Videos Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of Minors Following International Child Sexual Abuse Material Investigation

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Charles John Beanner, 52, a resident of Homestead, Pennsylvania, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today. Beanner was arrested on the complaint yesterday by agents with Homeland Security Investigations.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, an investigation by Swedish officials and Homeland Security Investigations identified Beanner among a group of individuals both in the United States and overseas who were sharing videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. The complaint charges Beanner with, on April 12, 2024, and March 26, 2026, knowingly distributing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including some videos that depicted the sexual assault of minors as young as six months old. The investigation by the Swedish government resulted in the arrests of Swedish suspects involved in the sexual exploitation.

The United States has filed a request for detention of the defendant pending trial, asserting that he is a danger to the community and should be held without bail. A hearing on the government's motion has been scheduled for July 21, 2026.

Assistant United States Attorney V. Joseph Sonson is prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation leading to the criminal complaint against Beanner.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.