Tell City man arrested after social media contact with juvenile girl

A social media contact that started as an out-of-state tip ended with Tell City police serving search warrants at a home on 11th Street and identifying 26-year-old Dalton Schilling as the suspect. The case centers on a 16-year-old girl and allegations that should concern every Perry County family watching what happens between teens and adults online.

Tell City Police Department investigators said another law enforcement agency alerted them after learning a juvenile female had been contacted through social media by someone believed to be in Tell City. Detectives used subpoenas and other investigative steps to identify Schilling, a Tell City resident, before executing the search warrants on June 4, 2026.

Police allege Schilling used social media and messaging platforms to communicate with the girl and repeatedly asked for explicit images. Investigators also said those images were later shared with other people without the girl’s consent. During the search, officers reported finding suspected controlled substances, drug-related evidence and other preliminary evidence, widening the case beyond the online-contact allegations.

The charges listed in the probable cause records include dealing in a controlled substance, promotion of child sex trafficking, dealing in marijuana, child exploitation, dissemination of matter harmful to minors, distribution of an intimate image, intimidation, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. Under Indiana law, child exploitation can be charged as a Level 4 felony in some circumstances, while distribution of an intimate image is a Class A misdemeanor and can become a Level 6 felony with a prior unrelated conviction under that section.

For parents, the warning signs in this case are plain: an adult moving a conversation from public social media to private messaging, repeated requests for explicit photos, pressure on a child to keep contact secret and the circulation of intimate images without consent. Those are the kinds of red flags that should prompt immediate action, especially when the contact involves a local adult and a minor in a small community like Tell City, the county seat of Perry County.

Families who see suspicious online contact can report it to the Tell City Police Department. The Indiana State Police oversees the Indiana ICAC Task Force, which directs Hoosiers to report online exploitation, solicitation and enticement crimes against children through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, the country’s centralized reporting system for suspected online child exploitation. Court filings in Indiana can also be checked through the Indiana Judicial Branch’s MyCase system, with the Perry County Clerk of the Circuit Court handling records that are not available online.