Area men charged in Internet child-sex cases

A man from Horsham and another from Bensalem were among five arrests in Internet child-sex investigations by the state Attorney General's Office.

Paul Stuart Bernold, 35, of Horsham, was arrested Thursday after sending lewd images and messages to an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl, Attorney General Tom Corbett's office said yesterday in a statement. Bernold was charged with unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a computer.

Richard J. Barnett, 42, of Bensalem, was also arrested Thursday. He was found with hundreds of pictures of children "engaging in various sex acts" and charged with 538 counts of sexual abuse of children, Corbett's office said.

A Cumberland County man and two men from Berks County also were arrested and charged. - Derrick Nunnally