Nicholas Evan Gant, 38, Indianapolis
HANCOCK COUNTY — An Indianapolis man is facing serious charges after county officials say he tried to meet up with what he thought was an underage teenage boy in the county for sex.
Nicholas Evan Gant, 38, 1210 S. Chester Avenue, is currently in the Hancock County Jail facing a Level 4 felony count of child solicitation — solicitation to engage in sexual intercourse; a Level 6 felony count of possession of methamphetamine; a Class B misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana and a Class C misdemeanor count of possession of paraphernalia.
Gant had his initial appearancein Hancock County Circuit Court on Thursday with Judge Scott Sirk. Sirk set an $8,000 cash bond and told Gant he would need to be back in court Aug. 29 for another hearing.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officials from the Fortville Police Department were called on June 7 to 322 E. Broadway in reference to a suspicious person who was at the gas station. The person was described as a 38-year-old male in a red Nissan Altima who was on the scene attempting to meet up with an underage teenager.
The report stated the information was provided to police via county dispatch, which gathered the information about the meeting from a nonprofit group called Predator Catchers Incorporated. When police arrived, they noticed two females from the organization with their phones out following a man (Gant) from the store, video-recording Gant, who eventually entered his vehicle.
According to the affidavit, when police asked Gant to open his car door they smelled marijuana and proceeded with an investigation. The report goes on to say that Gant told officials he was talking with someone via an app and text messages who wanted to meet with him. According to the affidavit, Gant said, “They (the two women) think I came out here to meet somebody younger.”
The report goes on to say Gant began speaking with someone through an app, and they were telling him that they were 19-years-old, but asked Gant if it would bother him if they were younger. That’s when Gant was told that the person he was talking to was 14 years old. Gant told the officers he “didn’t know” when asked if the conversations with the person included getting together for a sexual encounter.
According to the report, officials asked Gant if he came out to Fortville to specifically meet with a 14-year-old and he said “Yeah,” and said, “If I actually was, I wasn’t going to do nothing.”
The affidavit stated that when police searched Gant’s vehicle they located a bag with sex toys, restraints and multiple glass pipes commonly used for smoking methamphetamine. Officials also located a small, clear container with white residue which field-tested positive for methamphetamine and a working digital scale with a small, white, powdery residue. Inside of the front of the duffel bag, officials said there were two small vials with a screw-on cap. These were opened and both had a white powdery residue on the sides of the vials. A second field test was conducted on one of the vials, which also tested positive for methamphetamine, the report stated.
The two women who were recording Gant when officers arrived sent police numerous documents surrounding Gant, the affidavit said. Gant told officials he was contacted by someone on the app who started the conversation and turned it sexual. Gant noted the conversation left the app and went to texting.
The officials noted in the report that the documentation shows Gant reached out on the app to a profile and was eventually told he was talking to someone named Nick who was 14 years old. According to the affidavit, Gant then told Nick he was looking for “adult fun” and wrote, “Well you want me to come pick you up and hang out?” Gant also asked Nick repeatedly to send him “sexy” pictures.
The officials noted in the report that, after reading all the messages and watching the video, it was clear Gant believed he was meeting a 14-year-old at the gas station, and Gant sent messages from his cell phone to what he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. Those conversations, officials said, were about having sexual encounters with the 14-year-old.
Officials also noted in the report that they had Gant’s cell phone and planned to look into it and asked him if any child pornography could be on it and he replied that he didn’t think so.
