INDIANAPOLIS — A sergeant with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has been federally charged with distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
In mid-August, IMPD Sergeant Javed Richards was initially charged by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office with 13 counts of child exploitation, each a Level 4 felony, and one count of possession of child pornography, a Level 5 felony. Now, Richards faces six federal charges, including:
- Five counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material
- One count of possession of child sexual abuse material
According to previous reports, Richards is a 12-year veteran of IMPD and worked within the internal affairs unit. Richards allegedly shared more than 40 files of child sex abuse material through a Kik account after a tip was submitted to the department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Officials linked the user “chasepleez” with Richards, according to previous reports. Even though Richards reportedly connected to out-of-state servers to upload the files, one of the IP addresses he used was linked back to his Indianapolis apartment.
In an interview with police, Richards called his actions “super f—— embarrassing,” eventually telling police he was done “yapping.” IMPD suspended Richards pending a recommendation of termination to the IMPD Civilian Police Merit Board.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the FBI and the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is investigating the case, with cooperation from IMPD.
Richards had his initial appearance in federal court on Thursday. If convicted, Richards faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
