He pleaded not guilty to all charges on Nov. 26 and was held without bond until the ruling this week by Judge Michael Oster set bond at $500,000.
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In a motion requesting bond for Fraley, defense attorney Chris Pagan wrote that is client is “moored” to the area by children services cases involving his three children, ages 5, 3 and 1. His sister, who lives in southern Montgomery County, has temporary custody of of his children.
Pagan said Fraley’s father owns and manages a successful Butler County business and Fraley voluntarily turned himself into detectives when new charges were brought by the BCSO. The attorney also pointed out Fraley has no prior felony record and his family has retained an attorney.
“These facts show that Fraley is tied to the area by family, work, financial commitments and is therefore unlikely to flee,” Pagan said in the motion.
Prosecutors requested a high bond, noting he faces more than 300 years in prison if found guilty.
A computer believed to belong to Fraley contained “a very large amount of child pornography - over 1200 videos depicting children engaged in sexual activity, much of which has been duplicated by defendant’s backing up the videos from his phone to his computer. The most recent unidentified backup occurred on Oct. 29,” Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Kelly Heile wrote in the motion.
The indictment relates to 43 files located during the investigation, which is less than 5 percent of the files located on devices belonging to Fraley, Heile said in noting the investigation in still ongoing.
The motion also says some of the images allegedly traced to Fraley’s digital payment service include sex acts involving toddler-aged children. One of the images may have been taken at a previous residence shared by a witness and Fraley, according to Heile.
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“Although the defendant is not alleged to have used a weapon in the commission of the offense, this makes him no less dangerous to vulnerable children both on those which he would perpetrate and those whose victimization is intensified by his downloading, saving and sharing the recording of their terrible abuse …,” she continued.
Oster set the $500,000 cash bond, and if Fraley makes bond, the judge ordered that he wear a GPS monitor, have no contact with any children including his own and report twice a week to pre-trial services.
According to the indictment, Fraley, on or about Nov. 13, 2018, produced material that shows a minor performing or being involved in sexual activity.
Fraley was arrested on Nov. 13 in the 900 block of Crawford Street in Middletown. A bag was located next to where he was lying at the time of the arrest. The bag contained a computer that was seized after a search warrant was executed, according to court documents.
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Fraley originally faced two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, both fifth-degree felonies. But Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said more charges are expected, and there could be as many as 100, he said.
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