By David Slone
Times-Union
A joint investigation between the New York State Police and the Indiana State Police has landed a Warsaw man in jail again on 27 charges after he is alleged to have traveled from Indiana to New York to engage in sexual activity with a female juvenile.
According to a news release from the Indiana State Police on Tuesday, the investigation, which began in February, culminated with troopers and detectives with the Indiana State Police serving an arrest warrant at a residence at 6515 W. CR 550N, Warsaw, at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Detectives arrested Tyler Harmon, 25, on 27 charges, including five counts of sexually motivated felony, Class B, and nine counts of rape in the third degree. These charges are a result of a New York State Police investigation that began in Warren County, N.Y., after Harmon is alleged to have contacted a 14-year-old juvenile female via social media platforms Omegle and Snapchat.
Harmon allegedly traveled to New York to meet the girl on three occasions over the course of a year to engage in sexual activity.
Harmon was taken into custody at his residence without incident Tuesday morning and transported to the Kosciusko County Jail Tuesday where he awaits extradition to Warren County, the ISP release states.
On June 10 of this year, Harmon was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on two counts of possession of child pornography, both level 6 felonies.
According to the probable cause affidavit on those charges, on Jan. 31 an ISP detective was contacted by an investigator from the New York State Police regarding an investigation of Harmon, who traveled to New York state to engage in sex with a minor.
According to the investigator, Harmon began an online relationship with the minor in 2022 and between November 2022 and December 2023, Harmon traveled to New York on three occasions to have sex with the minor, who was — at one point, 15 years old.
The investigator learned of recorded videos of sexual conduct between the minor and Harmon. They had also exchanged sexual images and videos of one another.
The investigator said he interviewed the minor, who said they had been in a long-distance relationship with Harmon, who they met online in November 2022. During the interview, the minor said they and Harmon communicated for a few weeks and they learned he was from Indiana, so they blocked him because they didn’t think they would ever meet due to distance. They said during one of the conversations they had with Harmon, the minor’s age did come up, according to court documents.
During the interview, the minor said there were three times Harmon traveled to New York and rented a hotel room for them to stay in together. The minor said when Harmon was visiting, they never left the hotel room and Harmon said it was due to their age difference.
The girl said the communication with Harmon included the exchange of nudes and videos. The minor said after they broke up, the minor noticed Harmon did not delete the sexual images on social media. When the minor asked Harmon to delete the images, Harmon refused. The minor said they contacted Harmon to say they suspected their parents had discovered their relationship and Harmon allegedly instructed the minor to delete everything but said he would save it on his phone, so they would still have it later.
During the investigation, the investigator accessed the minor’s phone and was able to locate photos and videos involving the minor.
On Feb. 5, 2024, after receiving and reviewing information from the NYSP, the ISP detective went to talk to Harmon.
Harmon admitted to knowing the minor and said they had various conversations. Harmon also said they communicated on various social media platforms and thought the minor was 17. Harmon said they never discussed the minor’s age, but when they met she appeared to be 18, according to court documents. Harmon said he visited New York three times and he and the minor stayed in the hotel the entire time.
In December 2023, Harmon said he recorded himself having sex with the minor. He initially said he deleted it, but later admitted to still having it on his phone.
The detective took Harmon’s phone into custody as evidence. Upon analysis, the ISP found about 75 images and videos depicting the minor and Harmon together.
