MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — A former Monongalia and Preston County CASA worker has been charged for allegedly distributing child pornography following a tip from the instant messaging platform Discord.

On Aug. 28, troopers with the Monongalia County detachment of the West Virginia State Police received a Cyber Tipline report, which originated from Discord, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of an image “which depicted apparent child pornography,” according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators found that the Discord account that uploaded the sexually explicit image of a prepubescent girl was associated with Jessica Pepper, 25, of Morgantown, according to the complaint.

Pepper was previously hired by CASA For Kids of Monongalia and Preston Counties via a $25,000 grant.

On Sept. 1, troopers were able to submit a subpoena to Comcast for information on the IP address associated with the Discord report, which gave Pepper’s address, and troopers noted the assigned phone number in the Discord report was also associated with the Comcast subscriber information, troopers said.

On Oct. 4, troopers obtained a search warrant for Pepper’s address and were able to seize an Apple iPhone 13 Pro and an HP laptop computer; while on the scene, troopers interviewed Pepper who “advised she was a CASA advocate in Monongalia and Preston County,” according to the complaint.

While speaking with troopers, Pepper also “confirmed she downloaded and sent images of child pornography multiple times via Discord,” and that “she repeatedly saved images of child pornography before sending them,” troopers said.

At this time, troopers are still waiting for the West Virginia State Police Digital Forensics Lab to analyze the contents of Pepper’s digital devices, but “additional charges may be added pending the results of the digital forensic analysis,” according to the criminal complaint.

Pepper has been charged with the distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. She is currently out on a $25,000 bond, which was paid on Oct. 13.

In a statement on its Facebook Page, CASA For Kids stated that it “took immediate action and has terminated the staff member,” referring to Pepper.

The statement also said that CASA “follow[s] a rigorous screening and hiring process that includes, but is not limited to character reference checks, local child protection services (CPS) checks, federal background checks, child abuse registry review, National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) review, as well as other safeguards.”

Continuing in the statement, CASA said that it is “currently not aware that any child assigned to CASA in West Virginia was impacted,” and that CASA has “fully cooperated with authorities and will continue to do so.”