Student arrested for child porn

IU sophomore Galen Baughman was arrested earlier this month in his Henderson Street apartment by the District Attorney's office of Westchester, N.Y., for multiple charges of child pornography.\nWith assistance from the IU Police Department and Monroe County Prosecutor's Office, investigators of Westchester D.A.'s office arrested Baughman and charged him with five Class D felony counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child. He was also charged with a Class E felony for attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor. \nThe maximum jail sentence for a Class D felony is seven years in prison. In addition to the maximum three-year prison sentence for his Class E felony charge, Baughman could face a penalty of 38 years in prison. \nBaughman is currently being held in Monroe County jail and is waiting to be extradited to Westchester where the criminal charges were filed. \nDavid Herbert, spokesman for Westchester D.A. Jeanine Pirro, said investigators became aware of the incident after a mother reported the sexually explicit content Baughman had been sending her 14-year-old son via the Internet. According to police reports, Baughman allegedly wrote about explicit sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the teenage boy.\nAfter the report was filed, Herbert said the D.A.'s office assigned an undercover investigator to look into the matter. The investigator assumed the identity of the teenager by signing in online under the boy's username and password. After studying the child's writing style from the online conversation logs his mother had saved when Baughman tried to contact her son, the investigator was then able to mimic the child's language and responses, causing Baughman to mistake the investigator for the 14-year-old boy, he said.\nUnder the impression that the D.A. investigator was the child he had previously contacted, Baughman transmitted five images of children engaging in graphic sexual acts via the Internet. It is currently unknown whether Baughman photographed the lewd content or downloaded them online, Herbert said.\nBecause the pornographic images Baughman transmitted did not come into the hands of the teenager, Herbert said he was only charged with an attempt to distribute inappropriate material to a minor.\nWhen the extradition will take place has not yet been decided. Concerning future trial dates and hearings, Herbert said the investigation is at a standstill until Baughman is extradited to Westchester. \nLt. Jerry Minger said the IUPD simply served as a liaison for the D.A. investigators by offering any assistance necessary in completing the investigation. IUPD will have no future role in the investigation unless it is contacted for further assistance, Minger said. \nBut despite its limited role in the investigation, Herbert said the D.A.'s office was grateful for the assistance in the matter.\n"Both the University police department and the Monroe county department were extremely helpful and accommodating to us during the investigation," Herbert said.\nAfter announcing Baughman's arrest, Westchester D.A. Jeanine Pirro issued a promise of justice to any individual who attempts to spread pornography to the children of New York.\n"The Internet makes jurisdictional boundaries obsolete," Pirro said in a statement. "As long as children in Westchester are preyed upon by Internet predators, we will follow their trail and bring them to justice"