A Marysville man is in jail this morning on charges stemming from an ongoing child pornography investigation.
Ian F. McCarty, 28, of 7 Hillcrest Drive, was arrested Wednesday, charged with one count of pandering obscenities involving a minor, a felony of the second degree.
Deputy Chief Tony Brooks, with the Marysville Police Department, said the investigation began with information from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce in April. ICAC officials said they found child pornography being uploaded to the internet.
Local investigators reviewed the information provided by ICAC, which had already issued a subpoena to determine the uploads were occurring at 7 Hillcrest Drive, in Hillcrest Mobile Home Park.
On April 30, local and ICAC officials executed a search warrant at the home. At that time, investigators removed a computer and several hard drives. The electronics were sent to the Ohio State Patrol computer crime lab.
Earlier this month, local officials got the OSP report. According to court documents, the computer contained at least 44 sexually graphic images involving a “toddler” and an adult man.
“It was fairly obvious this was a minor,” Brooks said. “It was not even close. This isn’t someone trying to look young, this is a toddler.”
While investigating information found as part of the search warrant, ICAC contacted Marysville Police.
“We got information the subject was still engaging in this type of behavior,” Brooks said.
Investigators had enough information to get another search warrant for McCarty’s home.
According to police information, about 2:43 p.m., Wednesday, the search warrant, along with an arrest warrant was served. Detectives searched the home, “looking for evidence related to additional charges and counts related to child pornography.”
“Mr. McCarty was taken in to custody without incident,” Brooks said this morning.
Brooks stressed that pandering obscenity of a minor is more than just possessing child pornography. He said pandering is when a person creates, reproduces, buys, sells, trades, advertises or publicly distributes or displays obscene material of a child.
Brooks said he do not know if McCarty was actually making the pornography or simply uploading it. Additionally, he said investigators do not know if any of the children in the pictures are local.
“I think we are still sorting through that,” Brooks said, noting there is “a lot of data to go through.”
McCarty was arraigned this morning in Marysville Municipal Court. Bond was $50,000.
The case remains under investigation by Marysville Police detectives, along with the Ohio State Patrol’s computer crime lab and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officials said the case will be presented to a Union County Grand Jury at the conclusion of the investigation.
“Additional charges are likely forthcoming,” according to information from the police department.
Brooks said that because of the nature of the charges, officials wanted to file at least one charge and make sure the man was arrested while the investigation is finalized.
If convicted on the pandering charge, McCarty could face as many as eight years in prison.