WORDEN - A volunteer firefighter from Worden faces multiple charges of child pornography and indecent solicitation of a child after disseminating child porn and more via X, formerly known as Twitter.
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Jared Henke, 20, of Worden, was charged with one count of child pornography (a Class X felony) and two counts of indecent solicitation of a child (both Class 1 felonies) stemming from Oct. 19, 2023. He was additionally charged with three more Class X felony counts of child pornography from offenses committed on June 12, 2023.
On Oct. 19, 2023, he allegedly requested a child who he knew or should have known was under the age of 13 “to send nude photographs via the X application,” according to descriptions of the charges. He also reportedly solicited an individual under the age of 13 to perform sexual acts on multiple occasions.
On June 12, 2023, Henke reportedly disseminated multiple files of child pornography via the X application, each depicting individuals he knew or should have known to be under the age of 18.
A petition to deny Henke’s pretrial release describes how the investigation unfolded leading up to his arrest.
“On Oct. 25, 2024, the Sheriff's Office was notified of a CyberTipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Esploited Children (NCMEC),” the petition states. “There were a total of seven NCMEC tips relating to an individual having images and videos of prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct within their Kik, X (formerly known as Twiter), Snapchat, Instagram, and DropBox accounts.”
All seven tips appeared to be related to Henke, who was identified via email addresses linked to each of the described accounts, which were associated with an IP address located in Worden. He allegedly included portions of his real name in the emails and usernames of these accounts, with a date of birth that directly corresponded to his Snapchat account.
“A search warrant was executed on the defendant's residence on Dec. 3, 2024,” the petition continues. “Electronic devices, including a laptop and a cellular phone, were seized as evidence.”
Manual and forensic analyses of the devices seized revealed Henke had been “engaging in conversations with individuals he believed to be children, sending them videos that contain child pornography, and requesting that they send him videos depicting the same acts as shown in the videos he sent them.”
Within the last month, Henke had reportedly been speaking to a girl he believed to be 11 years old, the victim in this case he was accused of soliciting. The petition notes, among other disturbing details, that “his conversation was explicit in nature and contained requests to meet up with the child.”
The petition goes on to describe a series of admissions Henke made during an interview with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
“During his interview, he admits that the accounts belong to him, to disseminating images of infants and toddlers through X application and Discord, admitting to soliciting sexual images from underage females from ages 9 to 15, he admitted to requesting to meet up with various individuals whom he believed to be children.
“The investigation is ongoing, including an investigation involving a suspected 14-year-old in Pennsylvania who he was communicating with via Instagram,” the petition concludes. “The defendant is a volunteer firefighter in Worden.”
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office presented the case against Henke, who was remanded to jail for his initial court appearance and currently remains in custody.
The issuance of charges is based solely upon probable cause and is not an indication of guilt. All subjects charged with criminal offenses are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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