LATEST: The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday filed 13 felony charges of child exploitation and a felony count of possession of child pornography against Richards. His bond was set Tuesday at $4,000 in Marion Superior Court 30. His initial hearing was set for 9 a.m. Thursday.

DISCLAIMER: This story contains brief descriptions of child sexual abuse material.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis police officer arrested for child solicitation sent over 40 pictures and videos of child porn through online chats in one night in mid-July, police say.

Sgt. Javed Richards of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was arrested on 12 preliminary felony counts of child exploitation, the department said Monday. Richards, a 12-year member, was assigned to IMPD’s internal affairs unit at the time of his arrest.

An arrest affidavit obtained by News 8 says detectives were notified of Richards’ activity when analysts with the messaging app Kik submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on July 29.

The tip reported that 44 files of child sexual abuse material had been uploaded by a user named “chasepleez.” The username was attached to a highly secured email domain that police say could not be accessed through legal processes.

The probable cause affidavit detailed 12 of the files, both videos and images, which showed children involved in various sexual acts with an adult male. The timestamps on the files were marked as being uploaded on July 13 and 14.

Two files were uploaded from different IP addresses, which were eventually traced back to Richards’ cell phone and home internet.

Officers recognized Richards as an active IMPD officer, and worked with a special investigations detective to access Richards’ bodycam records for the night the files were uploaded.

Police say records showed Richards marked out on “off-duty-employment” in the 2400 block of Lafayette Road shortly before 11 p.m. on July 13. His bodycam’s GPS tracker indicated that Richard did not move from this block between midnight and 3:12 a.m. on July 14.

Around 3:15 p.m., his GPS tracker kicked on, indicating movement, and stopped fifteen minutes later when Richards arrived at his apartment in the 800 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

The apartment address was also on record for the two IP addresses reported by Kik.

After returning home, police say Richards accessed Kik under the username “chasepleez” through a virtual private network, or VPN, and his personal IP addresses several times from 3:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. IMPD would later connect Richards’ personal email to the same VPN used to upload child porn.

Detectives reviewed conversations between “chasepleez” and multiple other Kik users, and noted that over 40 videos and images of child pornography were uploaded and sent during this time frame.

On Monday, Richards was apprehended while he was working at the IMPD Internal Affairs office.

When detectives interviewed him, they showed him the Kik subscriber information form. Richards then “stared at the Kik subscriber information form for long periods of time without answering or saying anything.”

Richards did not deny using the “chasepleez” Kik account, but said “this (was) embarrassing to talk about” and didn’t know how he ended up with the child porn trading group “chasepleez” commented in.

Richards soon began denying currently having a Kik account. He dodged detectives’ inquiries, at one point groaning and “quietly saying ‘so dumb’” when asked about his Kik activity.

After police told him that “one mistake does not define (him),” Richards is cited in the affidavit saying:

“I know it doesn’t, but it defines my current situation, right? it defines what I’m doing here, it defines my future, it defines my present right now. It defines what, you know, obviously your opinion of me changes. It defines a whole lot. The reality is this: Whatever this investigation turns out to be, no matter what it is, it creates an impression. People don’t remember (expletive) about you except your tough moment, right? So, that’s what it does here, it creates an impression that this is who I am.

“Whatever happened in that moment, whatever it was, is not who I am, right? It is not who I am,” Richards told investigators.

Richards later denied paying for a VPN and didn’t know if his phone had a VPN installed.

When asked if he’d ever seen any “hashed” content on Kik, Richards ended the interrogation.

“Yeah, I’m just, yeah…this, yeah, no. Super (expletive) embarrassing and no. I appreciate you (detective), but I’m gonna stop yapping,” he said.

Richards was taken into custody and booked into the Marion County jail Monday. Jail records showed Tuesday he faces charges of 12 counts of child exploitation.

He was due in court for a hearing on Thursday.

Officers obtained warrants and seized several electronic devices from Richards’ home and office following his arrest, but said the devices were awaiting examination by an Indiana State Police digital forensics unit agent.

Help is available for victims of domestic violence. Below is a list of suggested resources on the Domestic Violence Network website:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788
• National Domestic Violence Hotline en español: 800-799-7233 o texto “START” al 88788
• Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence: 24-hour hotline available at 800-332-7385
• Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking
• La Plaza Indy
• The Julian Center
• Indiana Child Abuse Hotline: 800-800-5556
• National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673