BLOOMINGTON — A man is jail after he was allegedly caught in the middle of a sex act involving a 13-year-old girl.
Gabriel Hensley, 20, of Camby, is charged with child molesting, a Level 3 felony, and possession of child pornography, a Level 6 felony.
According to court documents, Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a home on Dec. 4 for a child molesting in progress after the teen’s family reported walking into a room to find Hensley naked with the girl in the room.
The girl said Hensley had forced her to have sex and that it occurred twice the nights prior.
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Court documents state Hensley maintained there was no sexual contact. In an interview, he claimed he was staying at the house the past few days and had turned off the lights and was getting into bed without pants on. He "noticed a shadow," enter the room and thought it was his friend trying to mess with him so he put his pants back on.
However, in an interview, the girl told investigators Hensley had been texting her on Snapchat and Facebook the last couple of days and was sending her sexual messages. According to court documents, the girl reported the two had sex a night before and she had sent Hensley an explicit photo.
Hensley had an initial hearing in court Friday. He is being held in jail on a $1,000 cash bond, according to online court records. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to 16 years for a Level 3 felony, and up to two and a half years for a Level 6 felony, according to Indiana sentencing guidelines.
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Child exploitation is an act in which a child is being groomed to take sexually explicit images and/or ultimately meet face-to-face with someone for sexual purposes, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a non-profit that works to combat child sex offenses.
In 2024, through October 5, NCMEC has received more than 456,000 reports of online enticement; a number that has increased by more than 300% since 2021.
NCMEC says the most common tactics used to entice children include:
- Engaging in sexual conversation/role-playing as a grooming method, rather than a goal.
- Asking the child for sexually explicit images of themselves or mutually sharing images.
- Developing a rapport through compliments, discussing shared interests or “liking” their online post, also known as grooming.
- Sending or offering sexually explicit images of themselves.
- Pretending to be younger.
- Offering an incentive such as a gift card, alcohol, drugs, lodging, transportation or food.
If you believe someone is the victim of child sexual exploitation or solicitation, you can submit a report to the NCMEC CyberTipline or to local police.
