Editor’s note: This story includes mention of sexual violence or assault. Resources are available here.
Police arrested Bloomington man James Chandler, 29, on Jan. 13 on a fifth-degree felony charge of child solicitation.
Chandler engaged in sexually explicit messaging with a 14-year-old Monroe County girl over Facebook beginning last September, according to the Bloomington Police Department’s probable cause affidavit. Chandler allegedly used several accounts with slightly different names to approach the victim, such as “Jace Pedro” and “Jace Chandler.”
The victim alleged her conversation with Chandler began “calm” but quickly turned sexual. The two exchanged pictures of their faces and “partially sexual photos,” the report states.
Chandler told the victim she was not the first minor he had exploited, the affidavit states, claiming he had once bribed a friend’s 14-year-old sister to strip in front of him and his friends.
Chandler allegedly offered to pay the victim to send further photos but blocked her when she refused. He unblocked the victim shortly afterward to continue his pursuit of sexually explicit photos, offering to be her “sugar daddy,” the affidavit stated.
Chandler also requested physical sexual favors from the victim, according to screenshots seen by police. He alluded to a second party in one text, telling the victim a friend of his called her “sexy as well.”
According to the report, the victim sent Chandler the photos he requested, at which point he blocked her without transferring the money he had offered.
Bloomington Police Department detective Kevin Frank, also a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children national task force, began investigating the case Nov. 13. Frank discovered Chandler was a Bloomington resident on probation for an unrelated felony.
Frank found Chandler at the Monroe County Probation Department and confronted him with details of the investigation, the affidavit said. Chandler initially denied the accusations but confirmed the accounts depicted in screenshots belonged to him.
The report states Chandler then denied knowing the victim was a minor but reversed course after the detective presented evidence of Chandler talking about another 14-year-old victim. Chandler then blamed drug use for his actions, also claiming his conversation was only a fantasy that he would never have acted on.
Police executed a warrant to search Chandler’s home in Bloomington while he was speaking with Frank, seizing the cell phone on his person at the time of his arrest for evidence as well as three cell phones from his bedroom and one flash drive.
Police arrested Chandler on the felony charge and remanded him to the Monroe County Jail, where he remains without bond. Chandler pleaded not guilty at the initial hearing Jan. 20.
