French Lick Man Arrested Over Child Abuse Material

FRENCH LICK, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana State Police troopers arrested a French Lick man Wednesday for possession of child abuse material, state police said in a news release Friday.

Jeremy David Cox was arrested and provisionally charged with possession and/or distribution of child pornography, a Level 5 felony.

This comes after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent multiple tips about Cox to the Indiana State Police.

ISP began investigating Cox in May. They served a search warrant at his home on Wednesday, and he was later arrested without incident at another location.

Cox was taken to the Orange County Jail. Investigators expect more charges to be filed.

Members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and French Lick Police Department assisted with an ISP task force.

Child pornography is a new term for child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) explains the language change on its website.

“NCMEC chooses to describe these images as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to most accurately reflect what is being depicted: child sexual abuse and exploitation,” the group explained.

“Not only do these images and videos document the exploitation and abuse of victims, but when these files are shared online, child victims are re-victimized every time the image of their sexual abuse is viewed. In a recent study led by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, 67% of CSAM survivors said the distribution of their images impacts them differently than the hands-on abuse they endured because the distribution is never-ending and the images are permanent.”

The website also explains that the term child pornography is indeed used in the legal system.

“United States federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (a person under the age of 18),” the website states.