WESTFIELD, Ind. — A Westfield man was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple child sex crimes.
Erik Hanson, 31, had pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child, conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child and transportation of child sexual abuse material.
According to court documents, the FBI alerted the Westfield Police Department to evidence Hanson was using the Kik social media app to solicit sex with a 14-year-old girl after an undercover online investigation, during which an agent posed as the child and the child's father during online conversations with Hanson.
Hanson allegedly sent and asked for explicit photos during the conversations and asked to meet for sex.
Investigators got a warrant to search Hanson's Kik account and found 91 photos and videos and child sexual abuse material, investigators said.
In April 20022, investigators searched Hanson's home, finding multiple devices he admitted had child sexual abuse material on them. Hanson admitted to agents that he had multiple Kik accounts for viewing child sexual abuse material and had used an app to pay another person to produce child sexual abuse material.
"The sentence imposed here ensures that the defendant will not be in a position to exploit or abuse any more children for many years," Zachary Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in a statement.
The case was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Hamilton County Metropolitan Child Exploitation Task Force and the Westfield Police Department.
