(La Porte, IN) - A La Porte man is accused of having naked pictures of a teenage girl he’s known for quite some time on his cell phone, as Jason Brant, 39, has been charged in La Porte Circuit Court with two counts of Level 6 felony Possession of Child Pornography.

 

According to court documents, he’s accused of requesting nude pictures from the girl last year beginning when she was 17, and keeping them stored on his personal cellular device, the requests themselves reportedly in the form of private messages on Facebook.

 

The victim told authorities she and Brant, on more than one occasion, would message each other for a few weeks until she blocked him.  Each time, she said, Brant would create another Facebook account to reach out and request more nude pictures of her. 

 

During police questioning, Brant told investigators he had different Facebook accounts due to being hacked. Authorities note that he also admitted to requesting the nude pictures, but argued the girl acted on her own free will. The girl, however, told investigators she felt pressured to comply with his requests.

 

Eventually, she told a relative about sending him the pictures because she no longer could deal emotionally with what she had done without help.

 

A few months after the investigation began, police said charges were pursued after Brant admitted to still having inappropriate pictures of the girl on his cell phone and a forensic examination of his device had confirmed their presence.

 

Each count carries a potential six-month to 30-month sentence.