A Fayette County photographer is in custody in the midst of an investigation involving explicit images and videos of minor children.
Mikell Shepard, 22, of Connersville, has been charged by federal complaint with three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child and one count of Possession of Child Pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 23, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Indianapolis received a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The report included investigative findings submitted by Google, which identified content in Shepard’s account believed to depict sexually explicit images and videos of minor children.
Google reviewed and flagged more than 400 files allegedly showing minors engaged in sexual acts, as well as over 1,000 files depicting the lascivious exhibition of the genitals of minors.
On Oct. 24, law enforcement executed a state search warrant at Shepard’s residence. Investigators discovered sexually explicit images and videos of minors allegedly produced by Shepard in both professional and personal settings, including while babysitting. These images reportedly include both female and male children, as young as 9 months old. The images and videos date from as recently as October 2025, with some files from the summer of 2024.
Publicly available information lists Shepard as the owner of “Shepard Photography” and “Boudoir by Shepard.” His Facebook account advertises him as a professional photographer who “works well with families, children, and infants.”
Shepard has been known to babysit several children, and has photographed children at a daycare, skating rink, and a gymnastics center in or near Connersville. Investigators believe there may be additional victims.
If you believe a child may have been victimized by Mikell Shepard, please contact Fayette County/Connersville Police non-emergency dispatch at (765) 825-2111.
According to the Writ of Habeas Corpus Ad Prosequendum filed Tuesday, Shepard will be transported from the Fayette County Jail to federal custody and will remain in the custody of the United States for all other necessary proceedings in this case.
Homeland Security Investigations, Indiana State Police, Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Connersville Police Department are investigating this case. Should Shepard be convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany J. Preston, who is prosecuting this case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
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