Child solicitation in Indiana is a felony that reaches any adult who communicates with a minor for sexual purposes, whether the contact happens online, by phone, or face to face. Under Indiana Code 35-42-4-6, a conviction brings prison time, mandatory sex offender registration, and residency restrictions that follow the person for years. The statute also applies when the “child” on the other end of the conversation is an undercover officer, which is how many of these cases begin.
Who the Statute Covers
The law creates two age brackets. A person 18 or older who solicits a child under 14 to engage in a sexual act commits the offense. A person at least 21 who solicits a child at least 14 but under 16 also commits it. That age-21 threshold for the older group surprises people who assume the cutoff is 18 across the board.
“Soliciting” is defined broadly. It covers requesting, urging, enticing, or advising a child to engage in sexual contact, and it does not require in-person interaction. Communications through a computer network, a phone or wireless device, written messages, advertisements, or any other method all qualify. Text messages, social media DMs, and chat apps sit squarely inside the statute.
Prosecutors do not have to prove a sexual act actually happened. The crime is complete once the adult participates in a communication with the specific intent to get the child to engage in sexual contact. Evidence usually comes from saved messages, chat logs, phone records, or testimony about in-person conversations.
Felony Level and Prison Time
Both age brackets start as a Level 5 felony. Soliciting a child under 14 carries the same base felony level as soliciting a 14- or 15-year-old. A Level 5 felony has an advisory sentence of three years and a range of one to six years, with a potential fine of up to $10,000.
Two circumstances push the charge to a Level 4 felony:
- The person used a computer network to solicit the child and then traveled to meet the child or the person believed to be a child.
- The person has a prior unrelated child solicitation conviction.
A Level 4 felony carries an advisory sentence of six years and a range of two to twelve years, plus the same fine ceiling. The travel enhancement applies to both age brackets, so driving to meet a 15-year-old after online contact carries the same elevated exposure as doing the same with a younger child.
When the Minor Is Actually an Officer
A significant share of these prosecutions comes out of sting operations where officers pose as minors in chat rooms, social media, or dating apps. The statute expressly reaches “an individual the person believes to be a child” within the relevant age range. No actual child needs to exist for a conviction.
Entrapment is the defense defendants most often reach for, and it rarely works. Under Indiana Code 35-41-3-9, entrapment requires showing both that law enforcement used persuasion likely to cause the person to commit the crime and that the person was not already predisposed to commit it. An officer posing as a minor and being available to talk is not, on its own, entrapment. The law separates providing an opportunity, which is lawful, from actively persuading someone who otherwise would not have offended.
Prosecutors typically defeat entrapment claims by pointing to the defendant initiating sexual topics, escalating the conversation, or taking concrete steps like driving to a meeting location. Where predisposition is on the record, the officer’s role in providing the opportunity does not save the case.
Sex Offender Registration
Child solicitation is a qualifying sex offense under Indiana Code 11-8-8-5, so a conviction triggers mandatory registration. Registrants must disclose home and secondary addresses, employment, schools attended, and online identifiers including email addresses, social media usernames, and chat handles. Any change to address, employment, school enrollment, or name has to be reported in person to local law enforcement within 72 hours. Missing a deadline or filing inaccurate information can bring additional felony charges.
The default registration period is ten years, measured from release from incarceration, probation, or parole, whichever comes last. Reincarceration stops the clock.
Several situations push registration to life:
- A court determines the person is a sexually violent predator.
- The offender was at least 18 and the victim was under 12 at the time of the offense.
- The offense involved force, threats against the victim or their family, serious bodily injury, death, or rendering the victim unconscious.
- The person has two or more unrelated sex offense convictions.
For a standard child solicitation conviction without those aggravators, ten years is the baseline. Because the victim’s age and the surrounding facts can flip the outcome to lifetime, the specifics at sentencing carry real weight.
Where You Can Live After Conviction
Indiana Code 35-42-4-11 limits where a convicted offender against children can reside. The person cannot live within 1,000 feet of school property (colleges and universities excluded), a youth program center, a public park, or a licensed day care center. The statute also bars establishing a residence within one mile of the victim’s home or living in any residence where a child care provider operates. Violating any of these restrictions is itself a Level 6 felony.
In urban areas, where schools, parks, and day cares sit close together, these overlapping buffers can make lawful housing genuinely hard to find. Law enforcement verifies compliance during periodic inspections.
Professional and Family Fallout
The consequences do not end with the sentence. Indiana Code 20-28-5-8 requires the Indiana Department of Education to permanently revoke the teaching license of anyone convicted of a sex crime under IC 35-42-4, the chapter that includes child solicitation. That revocation is automatic, not discretionary.
A conviction can also draw an investigation by the Indiana Department of Child Services. Under IC 31-33-8-1, DCS must complete an assessment when it receives a report of suspected child abuse or neglect, and a substantiated finding can lead to a Child in Need of Services petition or an informal adjustment. Either can reshape custody, impose supervised visitation, or otherwise restrict a convicted parent’s contact with their own children.
Other licensed fields, including healthcare, law enforcement, and social work, run background checks that will surface a felony sex offense. Federal law bars registered sex offenders from certain categories of employment as well. The conviction stays on standard background checks indefinitely.