Muncie man arrested for child exploitation and possession of child pornography

MUNCIE, Ind. – A Muncie man has been arrested for child exploitation and possession of child pornography.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed Friday, 21-year-old Jeremy Michael Caldwell was taken into custody Thursday. He now faces five preliminary charges related to child exploitation.

After his arrest, Caldwell was taken to the Delaware County Jail. His bail is $30,000 cash.

Indiana State Police’s investigation into Caldwell’s alleged activities began last July when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded them a tip from social media company Discord Inc.

The notice shows that 58 files containing child sexual material were uploaded to the platform last May. The AOL email address and username attached to the upload were attached to the tip.

According to court documents, the tip also included two IP addresses that state police then traced to the Muncie area.

Police requested additional information about the IP address from the Internet service provider it was linked to. Last June, the service provider disclosed to investigators the physical address to which the IP address was associated.

Court records show state police then responded to the 600 block of West 9th Street in Muncie and conducted surveillance on the home to which the IP address was associated. Police soon identified a suspect they believed to be Caldwell.

After checking Discord Inc.’s tip about the inappropriate materials uploaded to its platform, police executed a search warrant for the apartment where they believed Caldwell lived.

Caldwell was taken into custody after police served the warrant. Court records show he was then taken to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department for an interview.

State Police reported that during her interview, Caldwell admitted to using the email address and username attached to the inappropriate uploads reported by Discord Inc. He also admitted to viewing and sharing child pornography on the Dark Web and Discord.

According to court documents, Caldwell also admitted to downloading child pornography and using it to masturbate.

As of this writing, a date for Caldwell’s court appearance has not been set.