News Releases

Indiana man charged for receiving, possessing child pornography

INDIANAPOLIS - A local man was charged in federal court Tuesday with receiving and possessing child pornography. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department; the Hamilton County Child Exploitation Task Force; and the Indiana police departments of Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville.

Fred Bogus, 50, of Noblesville, Ind., was charged Nov. 16 in the Southern District of Indiana. The charging document alleges that on Sept. 8 Bogus received child pornography images and videos via the Internet. Bogus also allegedly possessed additional images of child pornography on Oct. 18 when he was arrested. The charging document further alleges that Bogus has separate, previous convictions in Indiana state court for child molestation and possessing child pornography.

Bogus has remained in custody since his arrest. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Brant Cook, Southern District of Indiana.

A federal information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov.