- The authorities arrested a Fort Wayne man in a dark web child porn raid, The arrest follows similar Indiana cases this year.
- Investigations flag off when the authorities receive NCMEC cyber tip reports from social media platforms regarding possible incidents of child pornography, they could further issue search warrants and arrest suspects.
- Recent examples of convicted people on similar offenses include a 24-year-old man from Greenfield, sentenced to 40 years in prison, and a 62-year-old man from Fort Wayne who received a three-year prison sentence.
Following a raid on his residence, law enforcement agents have charged a man from Fort Wayne, Indiana, with possessing thousands of pictures and films of children engaged in sexual activity. This arrest is the most recent in a string of child exploitation arrests in Indiana this year.
How Federal Agents Tracked the Suspect
Federal investigators use various methods to apprehend dark web predators while the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tip line receives reports from social media sites and cloud-based apps. When social media apps or cloud apps detect a possible child sexual exploitation incident, they will file a report and trigger an investigation.
In an Indiana case similar to this one in March of 2026, the Indiana State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Trevor Moffatt, 32 years old from Loogootee. The investigators received a tip through an NCMEC cyber tip uploaded in a social media application.
Once investigators confirmed the allegations, they executed a search and seized evidence to substantiate a charge against Moffatt for possession of child sex abuse material.
Also, evidence they later obtained from the investigation showed Moffatt had also possessed some materials of Bestiality. Indiana’s ICAC task force urges Indiana residents to report any attempted incidents of online child exploitation directly to NCMEC.
The ICAC task force comprises multiple agencies and will collaborate on the prosecution of offenders who use the internet to sexually exploit or entice children.
Other Recent Child Exploitation Cases in Indiana
The arrest in Fort Wayne was part of an increase in the number of those who take advantage of children in Indiana. Richard Konger, 62 years old, received three years of prison time for the possession of child pornography.
Fort Wayne police obtained a search warrant for Konger after the NCMEC made a report to police about him. He originally faced 10 charges in the criminal court system, but he pleaded guilty to two charges, possession of child pornography and indecent communication with a child through the use of a computer.
This pattern of arrests extends beyond Indiana, a Madisonville man was recently arrested for purchasing child abuse material from the dark web, demonstrating that law enforcement agencies across state lines are actively pursuing those who exploit children online, whether through social media platforms or the anonymous corners of the dark web.
Also, the authorities found Kevin James Miller guilty of possession of child pornography in Fort Wayne, he received a 180-month imprisonment term. Authorities found over 1,500 pictures of child pornography and seven videos showing the sexual abuse of children on the computers belonging to the defendant in this case.
In addition to his current charges, the defendant had two prior offenses of his conviction and registration as a sexual offender against children.
How Federal Prosecutors Handle these Cases
The Department of Justice continues to work to combat child exploitation through its Project Safe Childhood initiative. It aims to locate, apprehend, and prosecute people who exploit children and to help identify and rescue victims, with joint federal, state, and local resources.
In a very disturbing case this past year, a Greenfield man who was convicted of sexually exploiting children received 40 years in federal prison. This man, Bobby Cyprus Linhart, 24, pleaded guilty to coercing children as young as 12 to send him sexually explicit images and videos.
The law enforcement agents identified him when they learned that he used the screen name “maps.syb” on social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram, and X. In addition, the convict traveled to multiple cities, including one city outside of Indiana, to abuse a victim in person.
Finally, when law enforcement executed a search warrant at Linhart’s residence, they located an external hard drive with thousands of images and videos depicting child sexual exploitation. Federal prosecutor Tom Wheeler stated that this case was of special concern to him because Linhart had engaged in sexual activities with his young victims in person.
Another Fort Wayne man, 25-year-old Breon Andre Russell, faced multiple charges of felonies, including child molestation and child exploitation, after he allegedly touched a 6-year-old girl inappropriately. The police continued to investigate and discovered a second child victim; they arrested Russell on January 9, this year.
