I-TEAM: Multi-year investigation leads to child porn arrest in Preble County

WHIO Staff
·2 min read
6

An Eaton businessman who’s been at the center of a nearly two-year-long investigation has been formally charged with several child pornography charges.

Ernest Hatmaker, 53, was indicted by a Preble County grand jury this week on five counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person and one count of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, according to Preble County Common Pleas Court records.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: I-TEAM: FBI investigating possible child porn related to search warrant at Eaton businessman’s home

As the I-Team reported in August 2022, the case originated when an Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC, Task Force contacted detectives with the Preble County Sheriff’s Office in February 2022 regarding “the sharing of potential child pornography via the Kik app,” and forwarded deputies “a total of six videos.”

“Downloading and viewing it is what I’ll say at this point,” Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson told the I-Team about the accusations on Thursday.

Hatmaker’s home was raided by investigators from the FBI and the Preble County Sheriff’s Office in June 2022.

As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the I-Team learned on Thursday that the FBI is no longer involved in the case.

“They did not feel that it met the threshold for federal charges, so it was turned back over to our investigators,” Simpson said.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: FBI agents conduct search warrant at Preble County home as part of ‘ongoing investigation’

The case was later turned over to the Preble County Prosecutor’s Office for review and presented to the grand jury this week, leading to the charges over two years after the sheriff’s office was first alerted to Hatmaker’s alleged actions.

“Sometimes fast isn’t always good. You want to make sure you’re thorough and you’ve looked at everything, which is what was done in this case,” Simpson said.

Simpson also confirmed that Hatmaker is the only suspect in their case.

Hatmaker was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Preble County Jail, where he remains held without bond. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

News Center 7′s John Bedell reached out to Hatmaker’s attorney today, who had no comment at this time.