Pennsylvania Man Who Fell To His Death While Hiking On Swiss Mountain Was Facing 52 Counts Of Child Porn

BUTLER, Pa. (CBS/AP) — An American hiker who died last week in Switzerland has been identified as a man facing child pornography charges in Pennsylvania.

A prosecutor said Tuesday that the attorney for 52-year-old Patrick Harper had notified him that Harper had died in the region known for the famed Matterhorn peak.

Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger said he didn't have other information about the death, which occurred near ski slopes above the town of Zermatt.

Swiss authorities said it appeared the man "for an undetermined reason" fell 500 feet to his death along a steep slope. They did not give his name, citing privacy laws.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the engineer from Penn Township was charged in November with 52 counts of possession of child pornography.

According to the Post-Gazette, authorities found that Harper was downloading child porn on a file sharing network and that he admitted to downloading the images onto his laptop.

He faced a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

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