COLUMBUS, Ind. — A local man is in custody for child exploitation after officers from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force conducted a search warrant at his residence.
The Columbus Police Department, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s
Office and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office joined the ICAC Task Force, a national program focused on investigating exploited children, in July of 2023. Through 2022 and 2023, the National Institute for Missing and Exploited Children received several tips that Caleb Kirts, 30, of 3995 N. County Road 500W, had uploaded pornographic images of children, investigators said.
On Feb. 10, Columbus Police stopped Kirts in a vehicle that was reported stolen from Indianapolis, said Sgt. Skylar Berry, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Officers seized Kirts’s cell phone as he claimed there was evidence as to where the vehicle came from on the phone.
After obtaining a search warrant, investigators with the Intelligence Led Policing Unit searched the phone for the stolen vehicle evidence, but also located images of child pornography.
ICAC Task Force Investigators then got a search warrant for Kirts’s residence, 3995 N. County Road 500W. Multiple electronic devices were seized.
Kirts was located at Kirts Truck Repair, 14154 E. State Road 46, and taken into custody. He was arrested for the preliminary charge of child exploitation, a Level 5 felony. He will remain incarcerated in the Bartholomew County Jail on a 48 hour hold, jail officials said. The investigation is ongoing, with more charges possible in the future.
