Elwood man arrested after child exploitation, sex trafficking investigation

FISHERS, Ind. — An Elwood man was arrested after an investigation into child sex trafficking and child exploitation in Hamilton County.

According to court documents filed earlier this month in Madison County, Austin Thompson was charged with:

• Two counts of promotion of child sexual trafficking, each a Level 3 felony
• Five counts of child exploitation, each a Level 4 felony
• Two counts of child exploitation, each a Level 5 felony
• One count of possession of child pornography, a Level 5 felony

According to a news release from the Hamilton County Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the investigation into Thompson began after the task force received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

During the investigation, detectives reportedly found that Thompson possessed and disseminated child sexual abuse material on social media, including around 1,000 images of child sex abuse. The release claims that Thompson sent around 2,300 messages on different social media platforms, soliciting minors for child sex abuse material.

Thompson was arrested and is currently being held at the Madison County Jail, according to the release.