A 28-year-old Soldotna man was arrested Wednesday and charged with possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material after police say he uploaded videos to a messaging app.

A dispatch from Alaska State Troopers on Thursday says that Dakota Conner was identified as a user of the text, photo and video messaging app Kik who had uploaded “approximately” 45 videos containing child sexual abuse material. He was arrested this week and charged with five counts each of possession of child sexual abuse material and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

An affidavit included in charging documents says Kik on Sept. 4 notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of “Apparent Child Pornography” on the platform. That report said that the flagged activity came from an account with a confirmed email used by Conner that operated under the name Jade, police said. According to the affidavit, images and videos uploaded to Kik by the account met the definition of crimes of possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material described in Alaska Statutes.

The center notified Anchorage Police Department, who received search warrants for Conner’s home and vehicle on Feb. 24. Anchorage police approached Conner at his home on Wednesday, March 26. The affidavit said Conner told investigators at his home that he had used Kik in the past, but deleted it to get away from “child pornography,” which he “correctly defined” and understood to be illegal. According to the affidavit, Conner told police he would trade the material he had with other users to obtain more.

Despite deleting Kik, Conner said the videos were still on his phone, according to police. The affidavit says that he offered to provide his phone password and show officers “approximately 40-50 CSAM photos and videos,” though it does not say whether any such material was actually shown to the investigators.

Officers arrested Conner that day and seized his laptop, two cellphones and an Xbox. He was arraigned on Thursday and no further court appearances are scheduled in the state court database as of that evening. The dispatch says he was held without bail.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.