Fugitive charge dropped on Toddville man accused of soliciting underaged girls in Indiana

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Linn County Attorney's Office dismissed a fugitive from justice charge Thursday for a Toddville man, who faces charges he solicited a 14-year-old Indiana girl online for sex, because he turned himself in to Indiana authorities May 26.

Blake A. Anderson, 26, admitted to having sex with 14-year-old girls in two other states, and child pornography was found in his apartment during a search, according court documents. Anderson was arrested May 13 in Cedar Rapids on a Warrick County, Ind., warrant for child solicitation.

Anderson posted a $7,500 bond and then returned to Indiana.

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 message 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 girls.

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 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.

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.

Editor's Note: Comments have been disabled on this story.