Sailor charged with asking his former girlfriend to molest a 3-year-old child

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Updated: January 24, 2012 2:12AM

A sailor from northwest Indiana was charged Monday with asking his former girlfriend to molest a 3-year-old child and text him photos of the crime, officials said.

Ryan Schroeder, 26, of Valparaiso, Ind., was charged Monday with 23 felonies — including aiding in child molestation, aiding in child exploitation, possession of child pornography, aiding in voyeurism and aiding in theft, according to the Indiana State Police.

Schroeder’s charges are connected to the October 2011 arrest of 21-year-old Wanatah, Ind., resident Tara Tryon, who was charged with 20 counts of felony child molestation, according to ISP.

The Indiana Department of Child Services notified State Police that a 3-year-old may have been molested and investigators determined Schroeder allegedly asked Tryon, his girlfriend at the time, to molest the child and text pictures on his cell phone, officials said.

Schroeder is currently in the U.S. Navy based in Jacksonville, Fla., but was not in the military at the time of the alleged molestations, officials said.

Special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service arrested Schroeder Monday in Jacksonville, where he is being held in the Jacksonville County Jail awaiting extradition back to Porter County, officials said.

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