Published: May 15, 2008 03:38 pm            

Police say investigation into camera continuing

Tom Graef’s concern over what he believes to be a child in danger has resulted in a police investigation into the matter.

Earlier this month, Graef, of Avon, purchased a digital camera and a flash card off the Internet. When the camera arrived, he checked the empty flash card merely as a precaution, he said, as he had planned to give the camera to his daughter.

Even though photos on the flash card had been deleted, Graef managed to retrieve some of them and that’s what sparked his concern.

The photos showed a little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years of age, in various stages of undress. She was standing in front of a brick wall in what appeared to be a basement.

In a previous article in the Hendricks County Flyer, Graef said he contacted the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to provide them with information, but hadn’t heard back from anyone there. When contacted by the Hendricks County Flyer, a spokesperson for the NCMEC said they had gathered information and passed it on to police departments in Indiana and New York, where the camera had been shipped from.

Jennifer Pyatt, a detective with the Brownsburg Police Department and a member of the Internet Crime Against Children Task Force, said Indiana State Police Det. Jennifer Barnes was assigned to the case and has since met with Graef.

“She questioned him in detail, and obtained the camera and flash card,” Pyatt added.

Barnes confirmed that she took possession of the camera, but declined to comment further on an active investigation. Pyatt said police here and in New York are actively investigating the incident, trying to determine the identifies of both the child and the photographer.

Pyatt added that she had seen the photographs and did not believe that they were pornographic.

Police here are waiting to hear back from police in New York for updates on the case, she added.

amanda.roach@flyergroup.com

        

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