Webster Man Arrested For Child PornA North Webster man is facing possession of child pornography charges after allegedly having explicit images.
Ryne Edward Price, 34, of 5402 N. CR 850E, North Webster, is charged with two charges of possession of child pornography, Level 5 felonies; and possession of child pornography, a Level 6 felony.
He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 2:12 p.m. Monday.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Dec. 8, 2020, an Indiana State Police trooper began an investigation into possession of child pornography after receiving information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The cyber tip was from MediaLab/Kik, a free messaging and social networking app.
The alleged child pornography files were uploaded on Oct. 11, 2020, and Oct. 13, 2020. The electronic service provider (ESP) said the pornography was sent from one user to another user via private chat. The person reported as the target suspect had an internet protocol (IP) address that geo-located near the North Webster area. The files were made available to NCMEC and ISP for review. The trooper verified the images contained child sexual assault or child pornography, according to court documents.
The trooper obtained a search warrant for the IP?address and the address returned to a person that died June 12, 2019. Price lived in that residence at that timeframe.
The trooper discovered Price was a registered sex offender, having been convicted of child molestation, a Class C felony, in Noble Circuit Court on July 10, 2008. The address the IP?address returned to was used as the address as Price’s address on his sex registry.
On Nov. 4, 2021, members of ISP, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant of Price’s residence. As a result of the warrant, investigators conducted forensic analysis of multiple digital devices owned and used by only Price. During the analysis, investigators located digitized images that depict or describe sexual conduct by a child less than 12, digitized images that depict or describe sexual conduct by a child less than 18 and motion pictures that depict or describe sexual conduct by a child less than 12.
On Price’s phone, investigators located three videos including one matching the video reported in the cyber tip.
On Nov. 4, the trooper asked Price if he knew why the officers were there and Price said he had some old pictures on his tablet and phone he had been meaning to erase. He said they were pictures of adult women. He said he uses his phone, iPad and Chromebook to access the internet and there were some images he may have forgotten to delete. Price said the child pornographic images would be on his phone gallery, according to court documents.
During the interview, Price admitted to using Kik and confirmed his username and email address. Price said people sent him images over Kik and that he saw underage, nude girls on Kik. When asked how he knew the subjects were underage, Price said they looked too young. When asked what he did with images, he said he “just let it go,” according to court documents.
