Staff Report

WARSAW — A Warsaw man has been arrested after allegedly possessing child pornography.

Tyler Allen Harmon, 25, 6515 W. 550N, Warsaw, is facing two counts of possession of child pornography, both Level 6 felonies.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on Jan. 31, 2024, a New York police investigator contacted an Indiana police detective regarding a 24-year-old man from Indiana who traveled to New York to have sex with a minor, identified as Harmon.

Tyler Harmon

Harmon allegedly started interacting online with the minor in 2022. Between November 2022 and December 2023, he allegedly traveled to New York three times to have sex with the minor.

The New York investigator learned that Harmon supposedly recorded having sex with the minor and Harmon and the minor allegedly exchanged nude sexual images and videos with one another.

The New York investigator interviewed the minor who said they were in a long-distance relationship with a man, identified as Harmon, that the minor met online in November 2022.

The minor said they and Harmon talked for awhile, but they blocked him after they learned he was from Indiana because they didn’t think they would meet due to the distance.

The minor said they accidentally unblocked Harmon and they started communicating again on Snapchat and FaceTimed each other. The minor told the investigator they told Harmon they were 15 and Harmon said he was either 23 or 24.

On Nov. 25, 2022, Harmon asked the minor to be in a relationship with him. The minor said Harmon said they would probably get in trouble if they were found together.

The minor told the investigator Harmon traveled to New York three times and Harmon rented a hotel room for them to stay in. The two never left the room while they were together, with Harmon mentioning that was due to the age difference.

The minor said Harmon recorded them having sex during the most recent visit. The minor said they and Harmon exchanged nude pictures and videos. The minor said after the two broke up, Harmon didn’t delete the sexual images of the minor on Snapchat. They asked Harmon to delete the pictures, and he refused.

The minor said they told Harmon the minor’s parents had discovered their relationship and Harmon asked the minor to delete everything, but said he would save it on his phone for later.

The investigator looked at the minor’s phone and found photos and videos of the minor and Harmon, including sexual content. The investigator got confirmation from a hotel in New York where the two stayed showing that Harmon reserved the hotel and paid for it with his credit card. There was also surveillance video footage.

On Feb. 5, 2024, the Indiana detective spoke with Harmon.

Harmon said he knew the minor and they had communicated via Snapchat, Facebook, FaceTime, phone calls and text message. The detective asked if Harmon knew the minor’s age, to which Harmon replied: “17, I thought.”

Harmon later said he thought the minor was currently 18. He said he went to stay at a hotel in New York in 2022 with the minor.

Harmon said he and the minor never talked about age, but he thought the minor was 18. He said again that he and the minor didn’t discuss age, but he knew the minor lived with their parents.

Harmon said he didn’t feel right about the relationship due to the distance and their age difference. He said he went to New York three times to see the minor and they stayed in a hotel room for each visit.

Harmon said he recorded himself having sex with the minor on his phone in December 2023. He told the detective he deleted the video in January 2024, but said he still had it on his phone under the hidden photos album.

The detective obtained a search warrant for the phone, with a police sergeant mentioning he located text messages between Harmon and the minor, many of which were sexually explicit.

Several text message conversations discussed the minor’s age, referring that they were underage and Harmon knew it. Police located 75 images and video of Harmon and the minor together, some of which were sexual in nature.

Harmon was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on Monday, June 10, on a $5,250 surety and cash bond.