By SYDNEY KENT
A 34-year-old Ossian man who admitted to uploading violent child pornography to a Verizon server will spend less than two years on probation.
Last week Avery Dean Bodwell was sentenced to 912 days in prison with 586 days suspended for one count of possession of child pornography, a Level 6 felony. With 326 days of jail credit towards his sentence, Bodwell’s incarceration time is effectively served. He is required to report to probation for 545 days.
In April 2022, detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a file containing child pornography was uploaded to Synchronoss Technologies Inc., a cloud-based storage provider for Verizon. Bodwell’s phone number was traced back to the file.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the description of the uploaded image depicted a woman and young child in a sexually abusive incident.
The tip led to a search warrant, and in June 2023, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Ossian Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security executed a search of Bodwell’s home. Additional pornographic files depicting child sexual abuse and violent acts against young children were also located.
Though he was arrested on preliminary charges of possession of child pornography, a Level 6 felony, he was able to post bail the same day.
In November 2023, four additional Level 6 felonies for possession of child pornography were added. When a detective attempted to serve Bodwell the warrant for the additional charges, he reportedly left the property in a vehicle moments before.
He was detained at a traffic stop shortly after, where he resisted arrest. Bodwell was then charged with resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail for the crime last week.
Bodwell also did not have identification with him at the time. As a registered sex offender from a conviction for attempted sexual exploitation of a minor in Utah, Bodwell is required to possess identification at all times. This resulted in Bodwell being charged with failure to possess identification, another Level 6 felony.
According to court documents, the charge was dismissed a week ago.
sydney@news-banner.com
