SAN LUIS OBISPO — This afternoon, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff released new information regarding a child exploitation investigation.
The investigation began on Sept. 25, 2020, when Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a report of a suspected criminal act in Los Osos.
Deputies learned that a minor resident of San Luis Obispo County was contacted through an online internet gaming platform, and lewd images were sent to the victim.
An initial report was taken and ultimately forwarded to the San Luis Obispo County Counter Human Trafficking Team, a team comprised of investigators from the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit and the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, who assumed responsibility for the continuing investigation.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, Detectives learned that an individual eventually identified as 20-year-old Jordan Fields from Columbus, Indiana was the person responsible for sending the obscene material.
The San Luis Obispo County Counter Human Trafficking Team, in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Field Offices in Santa Maria and Indiana, and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana, continued the investigative efforts.
As a result of this collaboration, Fields was contacted and interviewed by investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Indiana) and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 13, 2020, in Columbus, Indiana.
Fields was taken into custody and booked into the Bartholomew County Jail for charges surrounding child exploitation and possession of child pornography.
Fields was eventually released from custody on bond in Indiana, pending further court proceedings in Bartholomew County, Indiana.
Investigative efforts continued, and on Mar. 25, Fields was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel in Indiana and is being held in custody on federal charges in the Southern District of Indiana.
Fields has been charged with three counts of 18 USC 2251(a) and (e), Sexual Exploitation/Attempt Sexual Exploitation of a Child and one count of 18 USC 2252(a)(2), Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography.
The success of this investigation was made possible by the collaborative partnerships that exist locally between the San Luis Obispo County Counter Human Trafficking Team and the local Federal Bureau of Investigation field office as well authorities in the State of Indiana.
