Sun employee accused of possessing child porn
Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — A five-year employee of The Edmond Sun has been charged with multiple counts of possessing scores of child pornography images, some showing kids as young as 6 years old posing and engaging in sex acts.
Jared Ethan Horton, 29, was arrested at the Family Dollar store in Wewoka Friday afternoon, and later booked into the Seminole County Jail on two counts of aggravated child pornography and 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
Aggravated child pornography in Oklahoma is a charge brought against a person who knowingly possesses 100 or more separate images depicting child porn.
An Oklahoma County District Court judge set Horton’s bail bond at $50,000. He is expected to be moved to the Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City prior to his court arraignment.
A police affidavit in the case said investigators found the child pornography on several computer flash drives in a backpack belonging to Horton left at his sister’s home in Edmond, where he had been staying recently.
Investigators used a search warrant to seize two computer hard drives and a computer from The Edmond Sun’s graphic design department on Friday to check for evidence that Horton might have downloaded child porn at work. The equipment was returned to the paper the next day but authorities did not say what, if anything, they found.
Horton had been employed in the paper’s graphic design department since 2009, said publisher Karan Ediger. She said Horton had been absent from work for several days without explanation two weeks prior to his arrest. Ediger said she terminated Horton’s employment once she became aware of the child porn investigation on Friday.
“We were very surprised by the course of events and didn’t have any indication that something like this was happening,” Ediger said.
The investigation began June 4, when Edmond Police Officer James Sheltman received information about Horton and child pornography, according the affidavit filed by Edmond Police Detective Misty Spence in Oklahoma County District Court.
Horton’s sister said her brother has been staying with her for a few months, and her young son found a backpack belonging to Horton in his closet, the affidavit stated.
Inside were several computer flash drives and an MP3 player.
The affidavit said when the son plugged the MP3 into a computer to see what kind of music was stored on it he saw a folder with a boy’s first name. Inside the folder were about 60 images of a boy both dressed and nude, the affidavit stated.
The son then plugged in one of the flash drives and found the same nude photos of the boy, according to the affidavit.
The sister told police she confronted her brother about the items, and asked him to leave her home. The affidavit said Horton told her, “I screwed up, I’m sorry.” The affidavit also said he told her he had removed the bag from the trunk of his car and put it in her home.
Detective Spence obtained a search warrant on June 10 to remove the backpack, flash drives, MP3 player and other items found in the home. They were then examined by a police forensic expert.
Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Lavenue said if convicted, the aggravated possession counts could result in up to life imprisonment for each count, a fine of up to $10,000 and the defendant would have to register as a sex offender. Lavenue said the 10 possession of child pornography counts could bring up to five years and a $5,000 fine apiece, if convicted.
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Edmond Sun Employee Accused of Possessing Child Porn
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