Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A Warsaw man who pleaded guilty to child exploitation charges will spend 1-1/2 years in jail for the crime.
Thomas Vincent Howard, 51, of 526 E. Anchorage Road, Warsaw, was arrested in July and submitted a plea agreement in October. Thursday afternoon, Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed accepted Howard's plea of guilty to one count of Class D felony child exploitation and handed down the 18-month sentence, which will be served in Kosciusko County Jail. None of the sentence was suspended.
In July, a search warrant was issued for Howard's residence after a cable company employee installing high-speed Internet discovered pop-up ads for child pornography featuring young boys.
The cable employee told police that he saw other suspicious photos on Howard's computer and stopped working on the machine.
The Warsaw Police Department investigated the allegations, and a warrant to search Howard's home was issued July 3.
When Warsaw police officers arrived at the residence, Howard reportedly was sitting at his computer looking at the screen.
When police seized the computer, Howard allegedly was in an online youth chat room. Printed materials reportedly found in Howard's home appeared to be photos of boys under 18 involved in various sex acts.
The computer's hard drive was sent to the South Bend Police Department's High Tech Crimes Unit for forensic analysis.
As part of the plea agreement, a second charge felony charge of child exploitation was dropped.
