Bloomington Police arrest knife-wielding person on IU campus
At 11:15am on Wednesday, Bloomington Police Department responded to the area of 4th Street and Dunn Street in reference to multiple 911 callers reporting that they had seen two women running while yelling that they were being chased by a man with a knife. Callers stated that the man had last been seen near the Sample Gates at the intersection of Kirkwood Avenue and Indiana Avenue. Once at that location, an Officer was flagged down by a bystander who was able to point out the suspect. The suspect had traveled east through the Sample Gates and was walking on a path on the Indiana University campus. As the Officer approached the suspect, the suspect had reached a south entryway to the Indiana Memorial Union and had climbed up on a ledge, where he sat down. The Officer then gave the man commands to come down from the ledge and the man was taken into custody without incident at 11:23 a.m. He was identified as22 year-old Karsten Harshbarger from Indianapolis. The arresting Officer did locate a knife where Harshbarger had been sitting on the ledge as well as suspected drugs during a search incident to arrest.
Investigators located and interviewed the two 20-year-old women that had been seen running along 4th Street. The victim reported that she and her friend had been walking towards the IU campus when they noticed that an unknown man, later identified as Harshbarger, appeared to be following them near the intersection of 4th Street and Grant Street. One of the females reported that as she turned around to see why they were being followed, Harshbarger was five to ten feet behind them. It was at that time that Harshbarger reportedly retrieved a folding knife from his pocket, exposed the blade and pointed it towards the victim, which scared the woman and both began to run away from the intersection towards campus yelling for help.
Karsten Harshbarger was transported to the Monroe County Jail and booked for Intimidation While Armed with a Deadly Weapon and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
*Criminal Defendents are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law
New Jersey man sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison after grooming minor online and transporting her across state lines via Uber for sex
Arnold Castillo, 23, of Paterson, New Jersey, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity and Coercion and Enticement of a Minor. According to court documents, from January to May 2022, Castillo used a false identity, “Jacob Shedletsky,” to communicate with and groom a 15-year-old girl via social media and gaming applications such as Instagram, Roblox, and Discord.
Castillo engaged in grooming behaviors such as buying the girl’s anime artwork using CashApp and purchasing other high-value items on Amazon such as an Artist’s Glove for Drawing Tablet, a Max Smart Tablet Drawing Stand, and a Wacom Mobile Studio Pro 13 Windows 10 computer to be delivered to her parents’ home in Indiana. Castillo intentionally led the girl to believe that he had the ability to connect her to employment opportunities in the online gaming industry and used this leverage to engage in sexually explicit conversations with her. Castillo coerced and persuaded the girl into believing they were in love and that her family was her enemy.
During these conversations, Castillo discussed his plans to arrange for the girl to travel from Indiana to New Jersey so they could be together and engage in sexual activity. Castillo used the Uber application to find and hire a driver in New Jersey to transport the girl the 700 miles to his residence. Castillo paid the driver $500 through CashApp before they left New Jersey, and another $500 in cash when they returned with the victim.
When the girl arrived at Castillo’s New Jersey residence, Castillo sexually abused her on multiple occasions and used Uber to have others purchase or attempt to purchase the “Plan B” pill to prevent the child from becoming pregnant. For days, Castillo kept the girl in New Jersey and continued to abuse her, knowing that her family and law enforcement were desperately searching for her. In a recorded phone interview on May 5, 2022, Castillo lied to law enforcement officers, stating that he had no idea where she was and that she must have run away.
On May 11, 2022, eight days after the girl was reported missing, FBI agents recovered her from Castillo as the two were walking in front of his residence. At the time of his arrest, Castillo had several unopened condoms in his pocket. Castillo admitted to law enforcement agents that he kept the victim in his care, custody, and control in a small room and controlled her movements in and out of the room. He also controlled her access to food and basic necessities, knowing that she had no financial resources or ability to travel back to Indiana.
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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc
If you are a victim of child sexual exploitation, please contact your local police department. Resources for victims of child exploitation can be found on our website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/project-safe-childhood
Ivy Tech Community College receives upgraded Bond Rating from S&P Global
S&P Global announced it has raised Ivy Tech Community College’s (Ivy Tech or the College) “AA” bond rating to an “AA+” rating signaling confidence in the college. The rating is the highest from S&P in College history.
According to S&P, the upgraded rating is a result of their “view of the college’s seasoned management team and sound fiscal planning and policies. The financial risk profile reflects our view of ITCC’s consistently positive operations, good financial resources, and manageable debt.” Further, the report gives credit to the Indiana General Assembly’s financial support of the College through operating dollars and support of debt service.
“ITCC’s leadership team is sophisticated, experienced, and highly capable, providing a solid foundation of oversight guided by detailed strategic planning efforts,” the report states.
There are three primary bond rating agencies – Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global. Ivy Tech has historically worked with Fitch and S&P to evaluate its ability to meet its debt obligations as it relates to capital. These agencies monitor financial conditions in an ongoing way and conduct a thorough annual review.
This Week in Hoosier History
1987 – Michael Jackson’s Bad was released. Bad debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records, nearly five years after Jackson’s previous album, Thriller (1982). Written and recorded between January 1985 and July 1987, Bad was the third and final collaboration between Jackson, and producer Quincy Jones.
For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson