Vigo County Custodian arrested for child solicitation

 VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) – Court documents show a man employed as a custodian with the Vigo County School Corporation has been arrested for child solicitation.

Michael Rowe, 40, of Terre Haute, was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Vigo County Jail with a bond of $100,000 with no 10 percent allowed.

The case began on or about April 10 as the Jasper Police Department was conducting an undercover investigation involving the internet solicitation of children for sex.

“As a part of that investigation, they created a 13-year-old decoy,” the court documents state.

The Terre Haute Police Department was contacted on April 22 by the Jasper Police Department when they reported that 13-year-old decoy was contacted by Rowe. “Michael Rowe said that he was a custodian for the Vigo County School Corporation and was pictured in a shirt that had the school corporation logo and said custodial staff,” court documents continued.

Officials reported Rowe had contacted the decoy through various forms of communication, including text messages and email. Investigation also reveals Rowe sent multiple nude photos to the decoy and also carried on conversations involving sexual content while at work.

24-Hour News 8’s sister station, WTHI, spoke with the Vigo County School Corporation, who stated they could not comment since it is an ongoing investigation, but they did confirm that Rowe is a VCSC employee. THPD also stated that while this is an on-going investigation, they do not believe there are any victims at the school Rowe worked at.

Rowe is facing 10 counts of child solicitation and one count of dissemination of matter harmful to minors.