Huron man facing child porn charges

HURON — A Huron man was arrested recently after allegedly found to be in possession of child pornography. Ryan L. Engel, 28, of the 500 block of Center St., is facing five counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor or impaired person, all of which are fourth-degree felonies. In June, Huron police received several tips from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, according to a Huron police report. The tips originated from an internet messaging application called Kik. With that service, users can be linked by usernames instead of phone numbers. Detectives filed a subpoena with Yahoo to discover the name associated with the email used to register the Kik username, and it came back to Engel, the report states. Across the 15 tips from the task force, officers found more than 80 photos and videos. Many of them were child sexual abuse materials, commonly known as child pornography. Some of the files were of Engel, the report states. The child pornography files were broken down into four categories: • Prepubescent minor, sex act • Prepubescent minor, lascivious exhibition • Pubescent minor, sex act • Pubescent minor, lascivious exhibition In messaging through Kik, Engel allegedly asked others for and offered to exchange child pornography. He reportedly used the username "letsgetlaid22." On Sept. 10, detectives presented a search warrant for Engel's home, and Huron Municipal Court Judge William Steuk signed it, according to the report. Officers found Engel at his home and detained him while the search warrant was executed. Numerous electronic devices were seized to include two cellphones and three gaming consoles. The report notes that several rooms in Engel's house were identical to photos of Engel received from task force tips. The seized items were taken to Westlake police for forensic analysis, according to the report. Engel was released on bond on Monday morning. His case was bound over to the Erie County grand jury.