A Columbus man is accused of child exploitation and was being held without bond in the Bartholomew County Jail on Tuesday after Indiana State Police arrested him after executing a search warrant at his home.
According to an Indiana State Police statement Tuesday, detectives from the ISP-Versailles Post arrested Joshua J. Johnson, 29, on charges of child exploitation following the execution of a search warrant at a Bartholomew County residence.
Bartholomew County Jail records listed Johnson’s address as 2333 Poshard Drive.
The investigation by ISP-Versailles Post Detective Jason Duncan began in August 2022 after a cyber tip was received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. After a nearly 10-month investigation, ISP said investigators executed a search warrant at a residence on Poshard Drive in Columbus, Indiana yesterday morning.
During the execution of the search warrant, additional evidence was collected which led to Johnson’s arrest. He was taken into custody and held at the Bartholomew County Jail on preliminary charges of Level 5 felony child exploitation-dissemination of child pornography and Level 6 felony child exploitation-possession of child pornography. He will soon have an initial hearing in Bartholomew County.
ISP said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.
Duncan was assisted by additional troopers and detectives with the Indiana State Police-Versailles Post as well as investigators with the Indiana State Police-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
