BLOOMINGTON — A Bloomington man is in custody following a federal tip that led Bloomington Police Department (BPD) detectives to a cache of illegal images involving children.
Christopher J. Perantoni, 55, was arrested Tuesday morning at his Bloomington residence. He has been booked into the Monroe County Jail on a preliminary charge of possession of child sex abuse material, which is classified as a Level 5 felony in Indiana.
The investigation began on January 5, 2026, when BPD received a “CyberTipline” report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tip flagged an account associated with a Bloomington resident that appeared to be in possession of illicit imagery.
Following the initial lead, detectives determined that the material in question included at least one image of a naked female child estimated to be under the age of 12.
Armed with the NCMEC data, investigators secured a search warrant to trace the IP address of the account owner. That digital trail led police directly to Perantoni.
A second search warrant was executed on Perantoni’s home on Tuesday morning. During the search, officers located a media storage device that BPD says contained “several images of CSAM.”
As of Tuesday evening, official charges had not yet been formally filed in Monroe County Court, though Perantoni remains held on the preliminary felony count. Under Indiana law, a Level 5 felony conviction can carry a sentence of one to six years in prison.
The Bloomington Police Department has not released further details as the investigation remains active.
If you have information regarding the exploitation of children, you can file a report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or via their website at cybertipline.org.
Those facing criminal charges are considered innocent until proven guilty through a fair and due legal process. Accusations alone do not imply guilt; the judicial system will evaluate the presented evidence to reach a verdict.
