BEDFORD, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Bedford man is facing charges after investigators accused him of searching out photos of nudist colonies, but focusing on members that appear to be under 18.

Michael Bienert, 73, of Bedford, is facing 20 felony counts of child pornography stemming from an alert Microsoft sent to the Child Predator Section of the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General in 2020.

Through the course of the investigation, agents were able to submit warrants and gain access to the image that was reportedly saved on a One Drive account and the email provider for the email used to sign up for the cloud account. They also discovered the owner of the I.P. address through Comcast.

All evidence pointed the special agent to Bienert at his home in Bedford. On April 5, a search was conducted at his home and Bienart spoke with the lead detective.

According to the criminal complaint, Bienert confirmed his email address was the one on the One Drive account. He also said he didn’t give access to his email or his internet/wifi to anyone. He also only owns a cell phone that he only uses for calls and one computer.

Bienert then told the agent that he would look up nudist colonies. The agent noted that all photos they found were manipulated to focus on underage members of said colonies. Bienert also told the agent that he had numerous thumbnails with photos on them but he was deleting them because his conscious got to him.

Bienert claimed he was unaware that this was considered pornography as they were just a nudist colony.

Police took Bienert into custody and placed him in Bedford County Prison on $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 20.