Local man arrested for child pornography

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A Terre Haute man faces charges involving possession of child pornography.

It's a case the Terre Haute Police Department has been working on for months.

Chauncey Krantz has been the center of an investigation since early December.

Police believe Krantz has been sharing photos of who he calls his 9 year old daughter over the internet to people from Ohio, Illinois, and as far away as Texas.

On Thursday night after Krantz was arrested for charges out of city court, police talked with him about the allegations and the investigation involving him.  During the questioning, police found pictures on his phone matching photos provided by a man in Ohio who says Krantz sent him the pictures of a partially naked child.

Krantz was in police custody late last night, but on Friday, he was released from the jail on a clerical error just before 11 a.m.

The mistake happened after Krantz was released from charges he faced in Terre Haute city court.

When city court released him, the jail incorrectly released him from custody without him ever appearing in Vigo County court on the child pornography charges.

The search for him began almost immediately, and he was found just after 2 p.m. by police on his way to his attorney’s office.

This isn't the first time an inmate was incorrectly released, but Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing says that's all the more frustrating.

"Our system has warnings in place to prevent somebody from being released. In reviewing this with my jail commander, the situation here is just communication. "

Sheriff Ewing tells us no disciplinary action hasn't been decided on yet.

He did say that Monday they'll be reviewing the process and going over the details to fix this for the future.

No additional charges will be filed against Chauncey Krantz since his release was a mistake by the jail.

He’ll be back in court in the coming weeks for formal charges.