Warning: this article mentions and includes details of child sexual abuse that may be disturbing to some readers.
BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington Police detectives arrested a 24-year-old man Thursday for allegedly possessing pornographic images and videos of children younger than 12 years old.
Ryan Nelsen, of Bloomington is charged with child exploitation, a Level 4 felony and possession of child pornography, a Level 5 felony.
According to court documents, the investigation began in December 2024 when a detective received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). NCMEC forwarded a tip from the social media platform Kik, which alerted an account on the platform was possessing child porn.
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Court documents state the email address on the Kik account, which had been shut down, traced back to Nelsen.
Using IP information obtained in a search warrant, the detective traced the internet connection to a home in Bloomington. The detective conducted surveillance at the home and located Nelsen's car in the driveway.
Police returned with a search warrant on Feb. 6 and Nelsen was taken in for questioning.
According to court documents, Nelsen admitted to possessing and distributing child porn as recently as the previous night to "relieve stress" after work.
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Nelsen denied he had any physical or inappropriate behavior with children, court documents state. He has an initial hearing in court scheduled for Monday.
If convicted, Nelsen faces a sentence between two and 12 years for a Level 4 felony and between one and six years for a Level 5 felony, according to Indiana Sentencing Guidelines.
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.
