Published: July 04, 2008 04:40 pm            

Clark dispatcher arrested on child-pornography charges

Jeff Howell nabbed by Marion County officials, sheriff says

An employee at the Clark County Sheriff’s Department has been arrested by Marion County officials in connection with child pornography charges.

Jeff Howell, who worked at the department as a dispatcher, was arrested at his home Monday, Sheriff Danny Rodden said Friday. Howell had previously been a corrections officer in Floyd County.

According to Rodden, Howell allegedly had been in an Internet chat room, where he talked with a Marion County detective who was posing as a minor online. Subsequently, a search warrant was issued for his home, where child pornography was allegedly found.

He was charged with two class C felonies and two class D felonies, the specifics of which Rodden was unaware. One of the charges related to the attempted distribution of child pornography, he said.

A C felony carries with it a jail term of two to eight years in Indiana.

Howell had worked for the department for the last five years and was hired under the previous administration.

“We had no inkling of it,” Rodden said. “He no longer works here to say the least.”

        

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