NEW CASTLE, Pa. - A New Castle man is scheduled to appear before a Lawrence County Magistrate next week on charges of child pornography.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office accuses 43-year-old Scott Nicolls of distributing child pornography and using a hidden camera in a shopping cart to video underage females at a local Wal-Mart. 

According to the criminal complaint, agents, who were conducting an online investigation, found several online files shared from Nicolls's computer. The files allegedly contained depictions of children, under the age of 18, posing naked in sexually suggestive positions or engaging in extremely sexually graphic acts.

Following Nicolls's arrest, agents from the Attorney General's Computer Forensics Unit were analyzing computers seized as a result of a search warrant, and discovered home videos Nicolls allegedly took of underage females at a local Wal-Mart.

The charges state that Nicolls used a video camera, which was hidden in a shopping cart, and followed underage females throughout the store as well as in the parking lot. Agents said that the focus of the videos was on the girls' buttocks as they walked through the store, exited the store, or stood in line with parents or friends.

Nicolls was arrested on Friday by agents from the Attorney General's Child Predator Section and charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

He was arraigned before New Castle Magisterial District Judge Melissa Amodie. Bond is set at $75,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.