By Taylor Wooten
Local prosecutors charged an Indianapolis man after he sent an inappropriate photo to an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Harrison Scott Ball, 34, is charged with dissemination of matter harmful to minors, a Level 6 felony. If convicted, he could face up to 2.5 years in jail.
Ball communicated with the officer on April 28, during a multi-agency child solicitation operation. He came across an advertisement to speak with a teen girl on an adult website, according to a probable cause affidavit filed July 14 in Johnson County Circuit Court.
Ball exchanged inappropriate messages with the person he believed to be a minor. Two days later, he sent an inappropriate photo, according to court documents.
The officer called the suspect from his desk phone and introduced himself as such. He asked Ball to come to the Franklin Police Department on Monday to discuss the photo and messages he had sent, but Ball said no. He did not deny sending the messages or photos, court documents show.
The incident occurred in late April, at the same time as Operation Guardian, a multi-agency child solicitation operation including more than 35 officers from Franklin police, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Martinsville Police Department and Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office. Eight men were arrested and charged for traveling to an undisclosed location to meet who they believed to be a minor for sex.
A judge issued a warrant for Ball’s arrest Monday, and he turned himself in the same day. He was released on a $300 cash bond.
