MONROE CO. – On Thursday, December 15th troopers with the Indiana State Police Bloomington District, ISP Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), Bloomington Police Department and Indiana University Police Department officer, and the Monroe County High Tech Crime Unit jointly served a residential search warrant in Bloomington relating to a child pornography investigation.
The investigation by Indiana State Police ICAC Detective Robert Whyte began after a suspect shared child pornography with law enforcement using a file-sharing application. Detective Whyte was able to locate the residence where the files of child pornography were shared and subsequently was granted a search warrant.
Upon serving the warrant, officers located two adult males at the residence. Concurrent interviews were completed by both troopers and Bloomington officers with the two males. Those interviews along with forensic examinations of electronic devices located at the residence eliminated one of the adult males from being a suspect.
During those same interviews and examinations were able to confirm that Heath L. Dearto, 45, of Bloomington was in possession of child pornography. Also, Dearto was found to be cultivating, dealing, and possessing marijuana.Â
Dearto was arrested and transported to the Monroe County Jail on these charges:
- One count of distribution of child pornography under 12 and bondage, Level 4 felony
- One count of possession of child pornography under 12 and bondage, Level 5 felony
- One count of dealing marijuana, Class A misdemeanor
- One count of cultivating marijuana, Class A misdemeanor
- One count of possession of marijuana, Class B misdemeanor
Lt. Paul Bucher, Commander of the Indiana State Police Bloomington District commended the joint effort of this investigation, “These investigations can be very complex and they take a team effort. We have a great working relationship with these agencies and through a team effort we were able to complete the investigation with an arrest.”
Anyone having any information related to crimes against children is encouraged to contact their local law enforcement agency or visit the NCMEC website at http://www.missingkids.com/home and find the link to make a CYBERTIPLINE report.
