A 70-year-old Brown County man has been charged with nine felonies after he allegedly sent an email to a financial company with an image of child pornography attached.
A search of Thomas Hicks’ computer in 2020 yielded nearly 13,000 child pornography images or material, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with Brown Circuit Court.
Hicks, of Albert Johnson Road, was charged on July 26 with nine Level 5 felonies for possession of child pornography. He was arrested on a warrant July 30 and held in jail on no bond until his hearing. He was released from jail Aug. 2 after posting 10 percent of a $50,000 bond and was put into pretrial supervision.
The Carmel Police Department began an investigation in March 2019 after a financial planning employee received an email with a possible image of child pornography attached. Hicks had been a client of the financial planning company since 2015. A detective with the Hamilton County Child Exploitation Task Force took over the investigation, according to the probable cause affidavit.
A search warrant was executed at Hicks’ home in February 2020. According to a police report, Hicks recognized the image, which he said came from the internet, and pointed out where a thumb drive would be where police would find more images, the affidavit states. He also told police in what subfolder they could find other exploitative photos of children on his computer.
Hicks admitted to having less than 100 photos like the one that was attached to the email. He told police he had been attracted to photos of nude children, looking at images once a month. He also said he had had images since the 1980s or 1990s, the probable cause affidavit states.
A digital forensics team reported finding 12,734 photos, videos or other files of child abuse, exploitative or “uncategorized” material on Hicks’ computer.
Hicks appeared in court on Aug. 2 where he entered an initial plea of not guilty. He requested a court-appointed attorney but that request was denied, according to online court records. His jury trial has been tentatively scheduled for Dec. 15.
Under the terms of his pretrial supervision, Hicks will have to have at least two contacts and two face-to-face meetings every month with the pretrial service officer and undergo a monthly criminal record check.
