A former Tamaqua police officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a federal indictment accusing him of sex crimes related to children and animals.
Christopher J. Cordes, 29, of Nazareth, was indicted for trying to entice a minor into sex to create child pornography, creating a video of himself having sex with animals and sending it to at least one minor, possession of child pornography and producing an animal crushing video.
"Animal crushing" means an animal is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.
Incidents related to three charges happened in Schuylkill County while he was a Tamaqua police officer. The child pornography count for enticing the minor happened on Oct. 15, 2023, according to the indictment. The animal crushing count happened on July 25 and 26, 2023. The child pornography possession happened on May 31 in Columbia County, the day the state attorney general’s office charged him with related crimes.
U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Saporito Jr. ordered Cordes detained at least until a hearing scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. at the Wilkes-Barre federal courthouse. Jury selection and a trial are scheduled for Jan. 6.
Tamaqua fired Cordes in June after he didn’t show up for a disciplinary hearing, the Pottsville Republican Herald reported.
In the state case, the attorney general’s office charged Cordes in Columbia County with possession of child pornography, trying to produce it, disseminating sexual materials to minors and others, having sex with animals and other counts. The charges remain pending in county court.
