Boulder man arrested after child pornography investigation

Mitchell Byars, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·2 min read
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Jan. 20—A Boulder man was arrested on suspicion of having child pornography as well as having ties to a child sex assault suspect in New Jersey.

Jesse Charles Schwenk, 34, was arrested Friday on suspicon of sexual assault of a child — complicity, seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child — possession with intent to distribute, and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child — possession.

According to a release, the Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce received a tip about possible child pornography being downloaded from Schwenk's Boulder address from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

A search warrant was served on Jan. 5 at Schwenk's residence in the 4400 block of Broadway where additional evidence was located.

While an examiner assigned to the Boulder County Digital Forensics Lab was analyzing devices recovered at Schwenk's residence, messaging history was located involving a party out of New Jersey as recently as the day the search warrant was served.

This led investigators to contacting New Jersey State Police, who served a search warrant at a residence in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, and arrested a 22-year-old man for reportedly sexually assaulting a 3-year-old child and sharing media content of the assault through a social messaging application.

According to the release, "Due to the nature of the conversation history, Schwenk is also being charged with sexual assault of a child."

Schwenk, who is being held without bond, has not had a court hearing set as of Friday afternoon. His booking photo was not yet available.

The Boulder County Sheriff's Office, Boulder County District Attorney's Office, Boulder Police Department, Longmont Department of Public Safety, New Jersey State Police, Phillipsburg Police Department and the Warren County Prosecutor's Office all participated in the investigation.