TERRE HAUTE —
Two counts of class-A felony child molestation have been filed against a Terre Haute man arrested last week on child pornography charges after police received a tip that he was offering a child for sex via instant messaging.
Chauncey Krantz, 38, also faces charges of class-C felony child exploitation and class-D felony possession of child pornography. He appeared via video in Vigo Superior Court 6 on Wednesday where Judge Michael Lewis appointed public defender Mark Mullican to handle Krantz’s defense. Bail remains set at $150,000 cash only.
A trial date is scheduled to be set in court on Tuesday.
Court files indicate Krantz allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual conduct with a child younger than age 14 between Feb. 25, 2008, and May 10, 2010. The second criminal count alleges that Krantz again engaged in sexual conduct with the same child between Nov. 8, 2011, and Nov. 30, 2011.
The third charge alleges that between Sept. 1, 2011, and Jan. 16, 2012, Krantz exchanged instant messages, photographs and phone calls with a person from Ohio describing sexual conduct with a child younger than age 18. The final charge alleges that Krantz possessed pornographic images depicting children younger than age 16 engaging in sexual conduct.
Terre Haute Police Detective Jimmie Richardson said after Wednesday’s hearing that the investigation continues into Krantz and others who might have received or exchanged pornographic images with him. Investigators believe Krantz sent photos and information to other people in Illinois and Texas as well as to the man in Ohio.
Krantz was arrested Friday after Judge Lewis heard testimony from Richardson that police had received emails in December with two attachments that document discussion between two adult males concerning sex acts and explicit photos of a child younger than age 10.
Richardson stated that he contacted a man in Ohio who said he received the messages, but the man didn’t know the identify of the sender other than his email address. That man told police that he had posted an ad on craigslist.com seeking a relationship with another man, and that ad was answered by the person who, he said, turned out to be Krantz.
The Ohio man showed police photos of children allegedly sent electronically by Krantz, Richardson said. Among those photos was a school picture of the child being offered for sex. Richardson said he took that photo to a Terre Haute area school in mid-January and was able to find out the child’s name. The investigation then led to Krantz, who police determined had an outstanding warrant in Terre Haute City Court for driving while suspended.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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Child molestation charges filed against Terre Haute man
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