Sex abuse case leads to 60 child porn charges in Dayton

ajc.com

A Dayton man accused of inappropriately touching a 9-year-old girl is now facing 60 charges connected to child pornography after investigators found dozens of sexually explicit images of children on his computer hard drive, according to Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr.

Christopher Searls, 38, was indicted on 60 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and one count of attempt to commit tampering with evidence.

He is also facing two counts of gross sexual imposition from the initial accusation.

“Thankfully, this brave victim disclosed the sexual assaults committed by the defendant,” Heck said. “As parents, it is critical that we know who our children are with and what they are doing.”

During the investigation into the girl’s claims, it was revealed that Searls also showed her pornography, according to the prosecutor.

Investigators received a search warrant for Searls house and discovered a “significant” amount of pornography, including sexual images of children, Heck said.

Searls is scheduled to be arraigned on the additional charges on Tuesday. He is currently set to go to trial on Nov. 2.

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