A 48-year-old Tooele man accused of sexually abusing one child and raping another made his first appearance in 3rd District Court Friday.

Approximately two weeks ago, the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, an arm of the Utah Attorney General’s Office, alerted the Tooele City Police Department that child pornography images were being downloaded at a residence on Vine Street in Tooele.

Officers made contact with the main occupant of the residence, identified as Peter Joseph Muehe, but Muehe told them that the images were unintentionally downloaded while he was surfing the Internet for other images, according to the probable cause statement.

Officers received written consent from Muehe to search his desktop and laptop computers, all of which were transported back to the Tooele City Police Department as evidence.

A subsequent search of the computers’ hard drives revealed several sexually explicit photos of Muehe with his niece and granddaughter, believed to be approximately 2 and 5 years old, according to the probable cause statement. The images led to the arrest and charges filed against Muehe, but an investigation is ongoing, according to Lt. Paul Wimmer of the Tooele City Police Department.

Multiple other child pornography images were found on the computers. Officers believe these images were downloaded from the Internet.

Muehe was charged with first-degree felony rape of a child, first-degree felony aggravated sex abuse of a child, and 11 counts of sex exploitation of a minor — a second-degree felony.

Judge Stephen Henriod set bail at $500,000 bondable.

Muehe will appear in court next on Nov. 3.

Jamie Belnap: jamieb@tooeletranscript.com