Local man charged with soliciting Indiana girl online

An area man faces charges he solicited a 14-year-old Indiana girl online for sex. Documents filed in the case say Blake A. Anderson admitted having sex with 14-year-old girls in two other states, and a search of his apartment turned up child pornography.

Anderson, 26, was arrested shortly after midnight May 13 on a Warrick County, Ind., warrant for child solicitation. The arrest was at an apartment at 3428 Hemlock Dr. NE, according to police records.

Anderson, who listed a Toddville address on court documents, was freed Tuesday after posting $7,500 bond. A June 9 hearing is set on his Iowa charge of being a fugitive from justice.

Warrick County Sheriff's Office investigators told the Evansville Courier & Press Anderson and the girl exchanged sexually graphic online and cell phone messages from July to October 2010. They said Anderson confessed to not only to the charges, but also to sending messages to at least 15 other underage girls across the country and to traveling to other states, including Alabama and California, to have sex with 14-year-old females.

According to an Indiana affidavit, the mother of the 14-year-old Indiana girl called the sheriff's office last October after finding sexually explicit text messages on the girl's cell phone. The girl told investigators said she met Anderson in an online chat room.

A Warrick County  detective assumed the girl's online identity and continued to communicate with Anderson until December. During that time, Anderson made plans to travel to Indiana to have sex with the girl even though he knew she was underage, according to the affidavit.

After obtaining a search warrant for Anderson's email account in January, police found recent conversations between Anderson and two other underage girls, including graphic photos and discussions of sexual acts.

The Cedar Rapids Crimes Against Children Task Force executed  a search warrant at Anderson's apartment May 11, seizing child pornography, including nude photos of juveniles from Washington State apparently taken by the girls themselves.

Warrick County deputies say they plan to travel to Cedar Rapids to get Anderson if he waives extradition. Warrick County's county seat is Boonville.