Child pornography charges against two Greenville men have been moved to Superior Court after probable cause hearings Thursday.

Probable cause was found in a case against Robert White, 34, of Greenville, who was charged with with four counts of possession of child sex abuse images. Benjamin Allison, 18, of Greenville waived probable cause during his hearing.

Allison is facing eight counts of possession of child sex abuse images, according to court documents.

Allison and White share a residence in Greenville, and Allison is listed as a dependant of White, according to court documents. They were both arrested April 22 on warrants issued by the N.H. State Police.

Loosening bail

Allison and his attorney, Paul J. Garrity, were quick to waive probable cause Thursday, instead focusing their attention on Allison’s bail conditions.

Should the Mascenic Regional School District approve it, Allison is permitted to participate in Mascenic High School’s graduation ceremony on June 3, despite a restriction that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 16.

Allison will also be allowed to return to work at Market Basket in Milford.

Judge L. Phillips Runyon denied other bail requests, including a class trip to Six Flags, visiting grandparents at their home, and having some Internet restrictions loosened.

Should Allison desire to visit his grandparents, he must meet them at a neutral location, as underage relatives also live at his grandparent’s residence. Allison is accused of knowingly possessing six still photographs and two videos of prepubescent girls performing sex acts.

Allison, who has committed to Keene State College, will require the help of school officials should he apply for financial aid, according to Runyon.

“I’m only going to allow him Internet access if he is at Keene State and a school official is present,” said Runyon. “These offenses occurred at home, so I’m not sure that is the best place for him to have access to the Internet.”

Other than the loosened restrictions allowed by the judge, Allison’s bail conditions – he is forbidden to have contact with minors under the age of 16 and is not to use the Internet – remain intact.

Hearing held for White

Robert White and his attorney, NH Public Defender Andrew S. Winters, took a slightly different approach Thursday, taking part in a probable cause hearing.

During the hearing, State Trooper Kelly Healy testified, telling judge Runyon about her involvement in the case.

Healy said a tip originally came from Tumblr on May 15, 2015, alerting police of a video involving a prepubescent girl that may have been posted to an account registered to White.

Police eventually tracked the tip to White and his residence.

Healy said warrants were sought after and granted, which allowed police to seize 17 electronic devices on Dec. 9 from White’s residence.

“After conducting a forensics investigation on his phone, we found four images with involving prepubescent girls,” said Healy, who said that those four images were found among “thousands” of legal adult pornographic images.

Winters argued that White’s phone could have been used by someone else at some point, but Healy acknowledged that they needed White to give police the pass code to unlock his phone.

Winters also suggested that the images could have come in unknowingly in a batch download.

After hearing Healy’s testimony, Judge Runyon told the courtroom that probable cause had been met and that White’s bail conditions would remain the same.

White is forbidden from using the Internet or interacting with minors, except as required by his employment under supervision, according to court documents.

Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.

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