A Delaware County man was arrested for allegedly possessing child porn, stealing from his client and practicing law without a valid Pennsylvania license.
Brendan Magee, 39, of Clifton Heights, is charged with possessing child pornography, the sexual abuse of children, criminal use of communication facility, unauthorized practice of law and theft by deception.
The investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information that a person using Google had uploaded images of suspected child pornography to his account. On June 14, Delaware County detectives and Clifton Heights Police officers executed a search warrant at Magee’s home on the 500 block of S. Church Street.
Magee, who was home at the time of the search, initially claimed his Gmail account had been hacked and shut down, denied he ever viewed child porn and claimed he didn’t currently have a computer, investigators said. As the questions continued, Magee allegedly became uncooperative and told detectives he didn’t want to continue speaking.
During the search, several pieces of digital equipment, including a laptop and several electronic devices, were confiscated. Investigators say they found more than 50 photos and one video of child porn in the equipment.
In a separate investigation, police determined Magee had been practicing law without being a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania. Investigators say Magee’s law license was suspended by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in December, 2016 after he failed to disclose he didn’t have a valid law license and had used another attorney’s registration number while representing a client in February of 2014. Police also say Magee failed to provide services in a child custody case in December of 2014 and unlawfully took payment.
Detectives believe Magee may have also victimized other people. If you have any information on him, please call Det. Sgt. Bellis at 610-891-4717.
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Magee was arraigned Friday and remanded to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility after failing to post ten percent of $350,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is set for September 7.
