Chester County Man Sentenced to 28 Years for Secretly Recording Multiple Children in the Bathroom

 The defendant distributed his recordings online to others seeking ‘homemade’ child pornography

PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Israel Faber, 34, of Nottingham, PA, was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and lifetime of supervised release, by United States District Court Judge Mark A. Kearney for multiple child exploitation charges including producing, possessing and distributing child pornography.

In April 2021, the defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of manufacturing child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The charges stem from an investigation into an online forum known for being a place where users trade child pornography. For almost a year, the defendant hid his cell phone in a bathroom and secretly recorded child victims while they used the bathroom facilities. Law enforcement agents caught onto the defendant’s crimes in April 2020 during an undercover investigation into an online chat group in which users shared ‘homemade’ child pornography. Faber distributed his own ‘homemade’ child pornography showing a young child using the bathroom. The defendant even highlighted the child’s face to the undercover officer, saying, “that’s [the child’s] face.”

The defendant hid these recordings on his phone and in secret online accounts that federal agents were able to identify using numerous search warrants. These accounts contained thousands of additional child pornography videos and images depicting children as young as infants being sexually abused and raped. Hundreds of child victims have been identified.

“This is an incredibly disturbing case – sexually exploiting children by secretly recording them in the bathroom is horrific,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “Strong law enforcement collaboration between our Office, the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police and local police forces, has ensured that this dangerous defendant will be behind bars and unable to hurt children anymore.”

“Israel Faber repeatedly violated children’s privacy, exploiting them for his own sexual gratification,” said Bradley S. Benavides, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “He further victimized them by sharing the material with other predators. The FBI and our law enforcement partners are working every day to find and bring to justice anyone actively harming children like this.”

"Producing, possessing, and distributing child pornography is an exploitive crime that should never occur," said Major Jeremy Richard, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. “I would like to extend my gratitude to the partner law enforcement agencies involved in investigating Mr. Faber's heinous online behavior. This sentence serves as a lesson to others who wish to secretly record children in private locations: Your actions are criminal and carry consequences." 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, York Area Regional Police, Lancaster City Bureau of Police and the Pennsylvania State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Jeanette Kang.