From the Indiana State Police – Bloomington District:
An investigation that began on October 27th, 2021 by Trooper Robert Whyte resulted in an arrest on December 2nd in Morgan County. The investigation came to light when Trp. Whyte received a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tip . NCMEC operates a Cyber Tipline, which was established by the United States Congress to process reports of child sexual exploitation, and shares that information with appropriate law enforcement agencies. NCMEC received a report from the social media app Instagram, which identified a video of suspected child pornography that had been shared by an Unknown user.
After a lengthy investigation and multiple search warrants to multiple different businesses, Trooper Whyte identified the unknown user as Brian P. Dent of Paragon, which is about 45 miles northeast of Linton. On Thursday, December 2nd, 2021, a search warrant was served on Mr. Dent’s residence. Electronics were seized and searched, along with an interview of Brian Dent was completed. After conferring with the Morgan County Prosecutors office, Brian Dent was arrested and transported to the Morgan County Sheriffs Department where he was released to jail staff.
Brian P. Dent was charged with the following,
- One (1) Count of Distribution of Child Pornography, Level 4 Felony
- Two (2) Counts of Possession of Child Pornography: child under the age of 12, Level 5 Felony
- Seven (7) Counts of Possession of Child Pornography, Level 6 Felony
- One (1) Count of Distribution of matter harmful to minors, Level 6 Felony
Assisting ISP units: Troopers Sam Gillespie, Cody Brown, Randall Van Arsdale, and Internet Crimes Against Children Detectives.
Assisting Outside Agencies: Lawrence County Prosecutors Office and Morgan County Prosecutors Office.
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.