$250K bond on child porn charges

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A Mowrystown man is in custody at the Highland County Justice Center on a quarter of a million dollar bond following a BCI report on items recovered from the man’s home last July that allegedly involve child pornography.

According to an affidavit filed with the Hillsboro Municipal Court on May 13, a search warrant was executed by the Mowrystown Police Department and the Highland County Sheriff’s Office at Jon C. Pruitt’s Mowrystown address on July 25, 2015 after a detective with the Franklin County Crimes Against Children Unit conducted a search warrant on an IP address that came back to Pruitt.

“Numerous items were taken” from his residence, the affidavit states, that included “computers, laptops, zip drives, DVDs, etc.”

Following the removal of the items, the affidavit states that the 41-year-old Pruitt came to the Mowrystown Police Department asking “to discuss findings” of the search. He was Mirandized and “advised he was free to leave at any time” before being provided a statement form he had requested. According to the affidavit, Pruitt said he wanted to “write down what doesn’t have illegal stuff on it” so his dad’s computer could be returned.

In August the items were turned over to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and in late April, according to the affidavit, a report was received from BCI on findings from the items that had been submitted for analysis some eight months earlier.

Those findings as listed in the affidavit were “more than 200 videos, 3,000 graphics and 1,000 thumbnails of interest.” According to the affidavit, “Numerous torrents with names indicative of child pornography and child erotica … were discovered. Internet history with terms indicative of child pornography and child erotica were discovered.”

The affidavit describes that the material depicts children between the approximate ages of 4 and 10 years old involved in various sexual acts.

According to a report by WCPO last week, Mowrystown Police Chief James Webster said the BCI report indicated Pruitt “had 14,000 images and 970 videos depicting child pornography.”

In the interview with WCPO, Webster said his department had been working with investigators with the Highland County Sheriff’s Office, the state, and FBI ever since being made aware of what was alleged to be going on with Pruitt from the Franklin County Task Force on Crimes Against Children.

A message left for Webster on Monday was not immediately returned.

According to the complaints filed with the Hillsboro Municipal Court on May 10, Pruitt is charged with pandering obscenity involving a minor, pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance. The charges are all listed as second-degree felonies.

At his arraignment last week, bond was set at $250,000. Pruitt is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, May 19 at 9:30 a.m. in the Hillsboro Municipal Court.

Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.

Pruitt
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2016/05/web1_JonPruitt-1.jpgPruitt
Images said to depict children between ages 4-10

By Angela Shepherd

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