Tell City man arrested on child sex and drug charges

A Tell City man is facing child-sex and drug charges after police say an out-of-state law enforcement agency tipped them to allegations involving a 16-year-old girl contacted through social media.

Tell City Police identified the suspect as Dalton Schilling, 26, of Tell City. Investigators said Schilling used social media and electronic messaging to communicate with the juvenile, repeatedly solicited explicit images from her, and later saw those images distributed to others without the girl’s consent.

Police executed a search warrant June 4 at a residence in the 1100 block of 11th Street in Tell City. During that search, officers reported finding suspected controlled substances and drug-related evidence, along with other preliminary evidence connected to the ongoing investigation. The arrest was reported June 5.

Booking and charge information list Schilling with 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. Public booking data shows Schilling was booked June 4 and included cash bond figures for some of the charges.

The investigation began after the outside agency contacted local police, expanding what started as a report of online contact into a felony case that now includes both exploitation and drug allegations. For residents near the 1100 block of 11th Street, the search warrant and seizure of suspected narcotics put the case squarely in the realm of neighborhood safety, not just a courthouse filing.

The arrest adds to a recent run of child-exploitation and drug cases in Perry County and nearby southwestern Indiana, where investigators have increasingly been confronting the overlap between online predation and controlled-substance trafficking. Schilling remains tied to an active case that now moves from the street level to the courts, with the search warrant evidence and booking records forming the basis for the next round of proceedings.