Fillmore man arrested on child solicitation charges

Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:54 PM

A Fillmore man found himself behind bars in the Putnam County Jail thanks, in part, to the work of a non-profit that brings to light adults trying to engage in sexual acts with children.

Austen Stout, 27, of Fillmore, was arrested Sunday and booked on a Level 4 felony charge of child solicitation and dissemination of matter harmful to minors. The arrest came after the Greencastle Police Department was notified by Putnam County dispatch in regards to a call from Predators Catchers, Inc., who said they were watching a male at Speedway Gas Station, 1157 Indianapolis Rd. and were waiting on an officer.

According to a police report, once an officer arrived, he observed a group of three to five individuals on the west side of the building with a male who was sitting on the sidewalk. One of the individuals identified themselves as the vice president of a non-profit that tracks and catches sex predators.

"She advised that they had been tracking someone that had been chatting with their decoy, believing their decoy was a 14-year-old girl named "Maddie,"" the report states.

The report continues by saying Stout admitted to everything and submitted his phone to the organization, who stated they had videos, photos and chat logs related to the incident. At that time, the officer asked Stout to come to the police station for questioning and he obliged.

During questioning, Stout gave a "full confession" of the events that took place.

According to police, Stout met the decoy on an app called MeetMe. The report states the chats lay out a belief by Stout that he was chatting with a 14 year old and wanted to meet and have sex.

"During the course of the logs, Mr. Stout sent explicit pictures of his genitals in lewd acts. Mr. Stout even offered to provide weed to the "decoy" and stated that he was a little scared because it looked like a cop car was out there," the report said.

Stout was set to have an initial hearing Monday afternoon in the Putnam County Courthouse.