IMPD sergeant sent more than 40 child porn videos via messaging app in one night, police say – Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic

DISCLAIMER: This story contains brief descriptions of material related to child sexual abuse.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis police officer arrested on child prostitution charges sent more than 40 photos and videos of child pornography over online chats in a single night in mid-July, police said.

Sgt. Javed Richards of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was arrested on 12 preliminary counts of child exploitation, the department said Monday. Richards, a 12-year member, was assigned to IMPD’s internal affairs unit at the time of his arrest.

An arrest affidavit obtained by News 8 shows that investigators became aware of Richards’ activities on July 29 when analysts from the messaging app Kik submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The tip reported that 44 files containing child abuse material had been uploaded by a user named “chasepleez.” The username was linked to a highly secure email domain that police said could not be accessed through legal means.

The probable cause affidavit listed 12 of the files, both videos and images, that showed children engaged in various sexual acts with an adult male. The timestamps on the files were marked as having been uploaded on July 13 and 14.

Two files were uploaded from different IP addresses, which were eventually traced to Richards’ mobile phone and home internet.

Officers recognized Richards as an active IMPD officer and worked with a special investigations detective to access Richards’ bodycam footage from the night the files were uploaded.

Police said records show that Richards was on “off-duty employment” in the 2400 block of Lafayette Road shortly before 11 p.m. on July 13. His body camera’s GPS tracker indicated that Richard did not leave the block between midnight and 3:12 a.m. on July 14.

Around 3:15 p.m., his GPS tracker turned on and indicated movement. Fifteen minutes later, the device stopped working when Richards arrived at his apartment in the 800 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

The apartment’s address was also registered to the two IP addresses Kik reported.

After returning home, police say Richards accessed Kik under the username “chasepleez” through a virtual private network, or VPN, using his personal IP addresses multiple times between 3:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. IMPD would later connect Richards’ personal email to the same VPN used to upload the child pornography.

Detectives investigated conversations between “chasepleez” and several other Kik users and determined that more than 40 videos and images of child pornography were uploaded and sent during this time period.

On Monday, Richards was arrested while working in the IMPD’s Internal Affairs office.

When investigators questioned him, they showed him the Kik subscriber information form. Richards then “stared at the Kik subscriber information form for an extended period of time without responding or saying anything.”

Richards did not deny using the Kik account “chasepleez,” but said it was “embarrassing to talk about” and that he didn’t know how he ended up with the child pornography trafficking ring “chasepleez,” the commentator said.

Richards quickly began denying that he had a Kik account at the time. He dodged investigators’ questions, at one point groaning and “saying softly ‘so stupid'” when asked about his Kik activity.

After being told by police that “one mistake does not define him,” Richards is quoted in the sworn statement as saying:

“I know it doesn’t, but it defines my current situation, right? It defines what I’m doing here, it defines my future, it defines my present right now. It defines what, you know, your opinion of me obviously changes. It defines a lot. The reality is this: Whatever this research turns out to be, whatever it is, it creates an impression. People don’t remember anything (expletive) about you other than your hard moment, right? So that’s what it’s doing here, it’s creating an impression that this is who I am.

“Whatever was happening at that moment, whatever it was, is not who I am, right? It’s not who I am,” Richards told researchers.

Richards later denied paying for a VPN and did not know if he had a VPN installed on his phone.

When asked if he had ever seen “hashed” content on Kik, Richards ended the questioning.

“Yeah, I’m just, yeah…this, yeah, no. Super (expletive) embarrassing and no. I appreciate you (detective), but I’m going to stop barking,” he said.

Richards was arrested Monday and booked into the Marion County Jail. Jail records showed Tuesday that he is charged with 12 counts of child exploitation.

He had to appear in court on Thursday.

Following Richards’ arrest, officers obtained a search warrant and seized several electronic devices from his home and office. The devices are pending examination by an agent with the Indiana State Police Digital Forensics Unit.

There is help available for victims of domestic violence. Below is a list of suggested resources on the Domestic Violence Network website: