Twice convicted sex-offender arrested with child sexual abuse material

A Crawfordsville man was arrested Tuesday on criminal charges related to his alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, an investigation into Christopher Gene Beke, Sr., 43, began with a report by Google LLC, after the company determined a Google user uploaded sexually explicit images of minors to Google servers in 2021. The Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received these reports, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office identified the Google user as Beke, Sr., who had prior convictions for Child Molesting and Possession of Child Pornography. Upon execution of a search warrant, and with the assistance of “Hunter”, IMPD’s Electronic Detection K-9, Beke was found to be in possession of devices that contained sexually explicit images of minors. Beke admitted to police that his phone would contain illegal images.

“This case is a great example of how an international corporate giant like Google can use technology to detect child sexual abuse images being stored online and then quickly get that information into the hands of local law enforcement officers,” said United States Attorney Zachary A. Myers. “Using these internationally generated leads, our ICAC Task Force can put local boots on the ground to stop people who traffic in sexually explicit images of children. And a special thanks for the incredible work of our law enforcement partners in Montgomery County.”

“Detective French and Detective Kirby have worked tirelessly on these cases, and we are grateful for our partnerships with the ICAC Task Force,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Ryan Needham. “We will continue to commit all of our resources to these types of crimes and work with our partners to ensure we do our part in keeping children safe.”

Beke, Sr. is charged with Possession of a Visual Depiction of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct (with a Prior Conviction). The defendant made his initial court appearance today, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Doris L. Pryor of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and was ordered detained pending trial. If convicted, Beke, Sr. faces a sentence of at least 10 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the Crawfordsville Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (including the County Sex Offender Registrar), and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office also provided valuable assistance.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina Korobov who is prosecuting the case.

This investigation was conducted by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a partnership of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies led by the Indiana State Police. The Task Force is dedicated to investigating and prosecuting crimes involving the technology-facilitated sexual exploitation of children and the trafficking of child sexual abuse material. Each year, Indiana ICAC investigators evaluate thousands of tips, investigate hundreds of cases, and rescue dozens of children from ongoing sexual abuse. In fiscal year 2019, the Southern District of Indiana was second out of the 94 federal districts in the country for the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.

Additionally, this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.