DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WPRI) — A Dartmouth man was arraigned Wednesday on child pornography charges after a passenger allegedly saw him looking at disturbing photos and having “sickening” text conversations while on a flight to Boston, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

Jed Cohen, 74, is charged with possession of child pornography, disseminating photographs of sexual or intimate parts of a child, and paying for sexual conduct with a child under 18.

On Tuesday night, Massachusetts State Police were notified that a passenger on a flight from Nashville reported to the crew that another passenger, later identified as Cohen, was allegedly looking at photos and videos of prepubescent girls on his phone.

The witness told the flight crew that some of the messages exchanged by Cohen included asking about a girl’s age and “How much does it cost to [expletive] her for a night?”

A crew member also reported seeing two images of underage girls on Cohen’s phone, according to Hayden’s office.

Prosecutors said that once the plane landed at Boston Logan International Airport, troopers searched Cohen’s phone and found the photos and messages described by the witnesses.

Further investigation revealed more messages containing videos of child pornography and one with Cohen asking about paying for sex with an underage girl at his condo.

“To call these allegations disturbing is a vast understatement,” Hayden said. “Sexual exploitation of any kind inflicts lifelong scars, and the harm increases exponentially when the victims are children. I thank this passenger for alerting the flight crew and I’m grateful for the crew’s swift action in notifying authorities.”

Cohen’s bail was set at $10,000, and the judge ordered him to be on home confinement with a GPS tracker if released. He’s due back in court Aug. 16 for a probable cause hearing.

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