Docs: Hancock County man created, possessed child pornography

HANCOCK COUNTY, Ind. - A Hancock County man has been accused of possessing and creating child pornography.




According to Indiana's public court reporting system, 67-year-old Oscar R. Lewis faces six child exploitation charges. Five of the counts brought against Lewis are Level 5 Felonies, and one of the counts is a Level 4 Felony.




Lewis was booked into the Hancock County Jail last week. He appeared in court for an initial hearing on July 1.




According to an affidavit for probable cause filed on June 30, police found at least six videos of child pornography upon a forensic search of a tablet and phone that belonged to Lewis. Police indicated that Lewis himself appeared in each of the videos in some capacity.




Investigators reported that in some of the videos, Lewis was performing sex acts with a juvenile. In other videos, Lewis could be heard providing inappropriate instructions to the same juvenile.




Police recovered the tablet and phone that housed the videos at Lewis' residence - a trailer in Willow Branch. Investigators found the phone and tablet in Lewis's "hot tub room."




Court records indicate the videos on the devices police found were also shot in Lewis's "hot tub room."




Upon their initial search of the devices, police found three applications used to convert photographs and a photo vault.




The police's preliminary search of the devices did not unearth any child pornography. With assistance from an IT team, however, police ultimately found child pornography on Lewis' devices.




At the time they recovered the phone and tablet from Lewis' "hot tub room," police also searched a mobile device they found on Lewis' person. That device did not have any child pornography on it.




Police also conducted interviews with two juvenile victims during their investigation. According to court records, one of the victims told investigators Lewis had nude images of both the victims police interviewed on his phone.




The same victim indicated that Lewis had been behaving inappropriately around her for nearly a decade. That victim also told police she had been sexually exploited in Lewis's "hot tub room" and living room, as the videos police recovered suggested.




A pretrial conference in Lewis' case has been set for July 30. Should Lewis be convicted of the most serious charge he faces - a Level 4 Felony - he could face a 12-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.





via: https://fox59.com/news/docs-hancock-county-man-created-possessed-child-pornography/