SEYMOUR – An internet image search led to a Jackson County man’s arrest in a case involving a sexually explicit image of a child.
Robert W. Simpson, 62, of Seymour, is charged with possession of child pornography, a Level 5 felony.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) sent a tip to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) on April 6.
The tip involved a Bing image search for sexually explicit images of children; an ICAC investigator with the Bloomington Police Department began working on the case. Microsoft, which owns and operates Bing, flagged an image accessed on its services on March 7. The image involved a child under the age of 12 and was sexually explicit.
The investigator traced the image’s IP address and obtained a warrant from Verizon Wireless, the service provider. The phone number and address both led back to Simpson. According to court documents, a subsequent search warrant was obtained for a Yahoo email address also associated with Simpson.
The investigator cross-referenced Simpson’s address with Bureau of Motor Vehicle records and discovered Simpson had previous convictions for child molestation and child exploitation.
On June 5, Simpson arrived at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for a meeting about his sex offender status. The investigator interviewed Simpson, who admitted he’d possessed and viewed child pornography. He said he used his cell phone to find the material through different applications; he’d been doing it for over a year.
He told police he “tries to delete the child pornography from his phone after he views it,” according to court documents. He told the investigator it had been about a week since he’d sought out such material. He stated he “does view child pornography, but does not actually physically touch children,” the affidavit said.
