A Union Mills man is facing 26 counts of child exploitation after being arrested Tuesday, according to the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office announced the arrest in connection with an investigation that originated from a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTip.
In May, NCMEC received information from a report made by Snapchat concerning online activity involving suspected Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The CyberTip was forwarded to the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
Sheriff’s Office ICAC Detectives were assigned to the CyberTip in July and initiated a two-month long investigation into the information contained within the CyberTip. Detectives worked to identify the individual associated with the reported activity, developed additional evidence, and ultimately established probable cause for an arrest.
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, deputies assigned to the US Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force located and arrested 46-year-old Paul Fasshauer for 26 counts of child exploitation. Immediately thereafter, Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division executed a search warrant at Fasshauer’s nearby residence.