IMPD sergeant accused of trafficking in child porn tried to cover his tracks using investigative knowledge, court documents reveal

INDIANAPOLIS — Court documents show an Indianapolis police officer accused of sharing dozens of files containing child abuse material online tried to cover his tracks using knowledge he gained during his time as an investigator in the Internal Affairs division.

Javen Richards is charged with 12 counts of child exploitation, all Level 4 felonies.

Booking photo of Javed Richards (Marion Co. Jail)

Once a hero

Sgt. Javen Richards was once hailed as a hero and awarded the Medal of Valor and the Purple Heart after he was wounded in a deadly gunfight on the city’s east side in November 2015.

In 2016, Richards was again recognized for his heroic actions, this time by the Indiana State Police. If it weren’t for Richards, state police said a crash victim would have died if the officer hadn’t jumped into action and helped apply a tourniquet to her arm, which had been amputated in a horrific crash on I-465.

According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Richards was a 12-year veteran who worked primarily in the Internal Affairs Unit, where Richards was charged with catching officers who broke the law and violated the oaths they were sworn to uphold.

Now Richards is accused of doing exactly the same thing, and using his knowledge to cover his tracks.

The Fall

Sgt. Richards’ downfall from heroic police officer to alleged criminal began on August 6, although no one knew it yet.

On August 6, a detective with IMPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to the cybertip, 44 files containing suspected child abuse material had been uploaded and shared by a Kik account with the username “chasepleez.”

Investigators reviewed the images and videos and confirmed that they depicted young children being sexually exploited. Investigators also discovered that the user, “chasepleez,” was sharing the illegal material with other users in group chats.

But “chasepleez” — who police would eventually identify as Richards — attempted to mislead officers by disguising his online presence.

According to court documents, Richards used a Switzerland-based email service that specializes in privacy and end-to-end encryption to sign up for his Kik account in an attempt to cover up his crimes.

Richards also connected to servers outside of Chicago state through a company in Toronto to upload the illegal child pornography images to his Kik account. He added another layer of separation by using a VPN based in California to connect to the server.

But Richards made a mistake.

The Misstep

One of the IP addresses he allegedly used to connect to his Kik account mapped back to a Spectrum Home Internet IP address. After law enforcement served a subpoena on the company, they learned that the Spectrum IP address mapped back to Richards’ Indianapolis apartment.

Court records show that investigators then used Richards’ own bodycam to track him back to his apartment on the day of one of the Kik uploads. Police said that at 3:28 a.m., Richards’ bodycam arrived at his apartment. Eighteen minutes later, the first reported login to his Kik account occurred from the Spectrum IP address associated with that same apartment.

Richards then allegedly switched to his out-of-state IP addresses to upload the child abuse material. But investigators said he made a mistake at 8:13 a.m., possibly accidentally uploading two files from his Spectrum home internet IP address before realizing it and switching back to an out-of-state VPN.

Court documents show that after police gained access to Richards’ Kik account, investigators found messages that Richards’ account had sent to other users discussing and participating in the trading of images and videos of children.

“What do you have?” Richards asked one user.

“Everything,” they replied.

Police eventually sought search warrants for all of Richards’ digital accounts, including his email, court records show. Police found one instance where Richards logged into the Chicago server from his personal email — the same server company that was linked to the Kik account uploads.

On the other side of an interview

On August 19, Richards was arrested at the IMPD office and questioned by detectives.

When asked if Richards had a Kik account, he reportedly replied, “Yeah, it’s embarrassing to talk about this.”

When police questioned him about the messages with other users and asked what he was doing on the Kik account, Richards said: “You’re an investigator, you know everything you need to know about this.”

Richards subsequently called his actions “so stupid” and “super f***ing embarrassing” and lamented that “whatever this investigation comes up with, it doesn’t matter what it is, it creates an impression. People don’t remember anything about you, except your difficult moments, do they?”

When investigators asked again about the messages Richards allegedly sent to Kik and the group he was speaking with, the IMPD sergeant responded:

“You have my logs, you have verified all the things that you say you have. Whatever happened at that time, whatever it was, is not who I am, right? It’s not who I am.”

Richards ended the call and told police he was done “barking.”

Police then searched Richards’ home and confirmed that his router was broadcasting the same IP address associated with the Spectrum account linked to some of the uploaded child pornography. Richards’ electronic devices were also seized by police.

‘A betrayal’

Following the announcement of Richards’ arrest on Monday, IMPD Chief Chris Bailey quickly recommended that the once-heralded hero be removed from his position as an IMPD officer.

“I am deeply shocked and disturbed by the allegations involving an IMPD officer. His alleged actions are a betrayal of the sacred oath we take to protect and serve our community,” said IMPD Chief Chris Bailey.

“These actions do not reflect the character of the brave men and women who serve Indianapolis with integrity and dedication every day,” Bailey continued.

Richards was suspended from the department the day of his arrest. Although Bailey sent a recommendation for Richards’ termination, it is up to the IMPD Civilian Police Merit Board to approve the termination.