(Columbia City, IN)-A 45 year old Columbia City man was arrested on almost two dozen felony charges this afternoon following a month long investigation into various crimes against children allegations. Investigators with the Indiana State Police’s Cyber Crime Information Technology Section and the Whitley County Sheriff Department uncovered a substantial cache of child pornography today during the execution of a search warrant at the man’s Columbia City residence.
Forensic investigators were able to identify hundreds of images of alleged child pornography stored on various computer devices. Among the images recovered were a series of sexually explicit photographs and videos. Some of the images allegedly recovered involved a 9 year-old female previously identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Investigators arrested Charles L. Larson, 45, of Columbia City without incident and he has been preliminarily charged by the Whitley County Prosecutor’s Office with the following:
• 3 counts of Child Molesting, a level 4 felony
• 10 counts of Child Exploitation, a level 5 felony
• 10 counts of Possession of Child Pornography, a level 6 felony.
Larson is currently being held in the Whitley County Jail on a $200,000.00 surety bond. His first court appearance will likely be early next week in the Whitley Circuit Court.
Whitley County Chief Deputy Prosecutor D.J. Sigler thanked the Indiana State Police and Whitley County law enforcement for their efforts by saying “This investigation is further evidence of our community’s ongoing commitment to keep our children and neighborhoods safe. Today’s events are another outstanding example of the coordination between local law enforcement agencies and state officials in complex, highly technical criminal cases.”
All Suspects Are Presumed Innocent Until Proven Guilty in a Court of Law
