BEDFORD, Ind. (IUSTV News) – An investigation from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) ended in the arrest of a Bedford, Indiana man on child exploitation charges, according to the Indiana State Police (ISP).
The investigation was opened after a ISP Bloomington detective received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Steven Webb, 53, was arrested and charged with five counts of child exploitation depicting a child under 12, a level 5 felony, after police conducted a search warrant at his Bedford home. Webb was also charged with possession of marijuana.
If convicted, Webb could face up to one to six years in prison for each level 5 felony.
The ICAC Task Force is a multi-agency task force that investigates and prosecutes online child sex crimes, according to its website.
In 2023, there were more than 16-thousand cyber tips submitted, up from 14-thousand the year before, according to statistics provided by the task force. In 2019, which was the first year included in the statistics, there were a total of 4-thousand reports.
Anyone with information on exploitation, solicitation, and enticement-type crimes against children are encouraged to submit a tip to NCMEC.
