Franklin man waives hearing in online sex case

Todd McMillen, 28, is accused of crimes involving what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

A Franklin man charged with sex crimes after a three-month investigation into his online correspondence with who he believed was a teen-age girl waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday in Venango County Court. Todd A. McMillen, 28, of 143 Titan Lane, was arrested in December following an investigation during which an agent with the state attorney general's child predator unit posed as a 13-year-old girl in a chat room police say is known to be used by online child predators.

Police say McMillen, a local bakery employee, first contacted a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl in a chat room titled "Romance" and subtitled "Pennsylvania5." Posing as the girl, an agent with the attorney general's child predator unit entered the chat room and was contacted on Aug. 29 by a person using the screen name "todd_mcmillen2003," according to a police criminal complaint.

Over the next few months, McMillen chatted with the "child" three times, either using his computer or a neighbor's, according to the complaint. During the interactions, McMillen would talk to the "girl" about sex, the complaint states. He would also expose himself over the Web camera, perform sex acts on himself, encourage her to perform sex acts on herself and discuss having sex with the girl, according to the complaint.

McMillen was charged with nine felony counts including three counts of unlawful contact with a minor, three counts of attempt obscene and other sexual materials and performances and three counts of criminal use of a communication facility. McMillen is being represented by Chief Public Defender Amy Johnston. He was arraigned in December before District Judge Douglas Dinberg and placed in the Venango County jail where he remains on $50,000 straight bail.