19-year-old arrested for child pornography

A 19-year-old man was arrested on July 22 for receiving and storing child pornography on his phone of a 14-year-old girl he met on the internet, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Joe Crider said.

An officer on a routine patrol noticed a suspicious vehicle parked in the 1700 block of Huntington Drive. or lower Cascades Park after 11 p.m. when the park closes.

At approximately 3:20 a.m., a 19-year-old male and a 14-year-old female were found in the parked car after hours.

The parents of the 14-year-old female were contacted by the officer. The parents believed their daughter was asleep in their home, but had found that she had left the residence, police said.

The male reported to the officer that he had recently met the female on Facebook and that she had told him she was 17 years old via text message.

Police said the 19-year-old male gave consent for his phone to be searched. As the officer searched through the man’s phone, the officer found nude photographs of the 14-year-old female.

After discovering this, the female was taken to her residence in Ellettsville.

The 19-year-old male was arrested for possession of child pornography.

— Samantha Felix