A rural West Lafayette man faces criminal charges in Tippecanoe County and federal court over allegations that he made videos and took photos of himself engaged in sexual acts with a young girl.
Additional photos were found of a second girl.
Christopher D. Bunch, 53, was originally arrested on July 27 on suspicion of child molestation committed by use or threat of deadly force after his roommates found suspected child pornography and called the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office.
On Tuesday, he was taken into federal custody by U.S. Marshals and appeared before a judge in U.S. District Court in Hammond, federal court records show.
A probable cause and detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Formal charges have not yet been filed in Tippecanoe County or federal court.
Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said the case is under review by his office. He confirmed that he does plan to pursue charges against Bunch here.
Following is a summary of what led to Bunch's arrest, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court:
Sheriff's investigators were called to Woods Edge mobile home park, off Indiana 43 North, after Bunch's roommate found photos depicting suspected child pornography on a camera that belonged to Bunch.
The roommate and others had been cleaning Bunch's room, and they found the camera under his mattress.
Photos on the camera showed a young girl, believed to be between the ages of 5 and 7, engaged in sexual acts with a man whom investigators suspect is Bunch.
Police then got a warrant to search all computers, cameras and electronic media belonging to Bunch.
That resulted in investigators finding numerous images and videos of the same girl in various sexual acts.
The videos and photos were made or shot between March 2009 and June 2010.
Investigators then found additional photos of a second girl, taken this past June.
The federal allegations are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
-- Sophia Voravong/ svoravong@jconline.com
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