(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(New Castle, PA) A man from New Castle who unsuccessfully ran a campaign for the Pennsylvania House is now the suspect at the center of a grand jury indictment and is charged with sex offenses.  

Justin Byers most recently unsuccessfully tried to run for an open state representative position in the primary election and he also unsuccessfully ran for a spot that was open on the New Castle school board.  

KDKA recently confirmed that Byers is now banned from all property that is owned by the New Castle Area School District. 

Court documents show that the grand jury charged him in early August and it was recently unsealed in federal court.  

Byers in now in jail because prosecutors deem him a flight risk and say that he is a danger to the community. 

Sources told KDKA-TV that he’s accused of having sexual pictures of children under the age of twelve after law enforcement seized two phones and two laptops from his home and sources also confirm that he worked as a student helper in a district elementary school while he was a senior at New Castle High School.

The FBI confirmed that agents authorized search warrants in connection “with an investigation into child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and the use of artificial intelligence.” 

Byers will have a detention hearing on Friday and be appointed a federal public defender.