Trial opens for man charged with impersonating juvenile

Oct. 27—The trial of a former Owensboro man who allegedly impersonated a juvenile online in order to obtain nude photos of teen and preteen girls began Tuesday in Daviess Circuit Court, with jurors hearing from two of the victims.

Alex Ryan Payne, 32, who has a Tell City address, was indicted in 2018 on eight counts of use of a minor in a sexual performance (victim under age 16), one count of use of a minor in a sexual performance (victim under age 18) and 10 counts of possession of material depicting a sexual performance by a minor.

The use of a minor under age 16 charges are class B felonies punishable upon conviction by between 10 and 20 years in prison. Use of a minor under age 18 is a class C felony and the possession charges are class D felonies.

In his opening statement, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Van Meter said the investigation began in 2018, when a victim Payne first began contacting when she was 12 years old reported the incident to the Daviess County Sheriff's Department. Payne was 24 years old when he first made contact with the victim, Van Meter said.

The victim, who is now an adult, testified Payne portrayed himself online as a 15-year-old. After they had talked "every day" through social media apps for some time, Payne sent her a photo which showed he was an adult, the victim testified.

"When I was 12, I figured I would be in trouble for talking with someone older than I was," the victim said. Payne then began insisting she send him nude photos, she testified. The victim sent nude photos regularly to him, she testified, but none of those photos were discovered during the investigation.

The victim broke contact with Payne when she was 14, but resumed contact three years later when she found Payne was in contact with her younger sister, she told jurors. Payne coerced the victim to meet him in a parking lot in Owensboro in January 2018, where she performed oral sex on him, the victim testified. The victim said she kept seeing Payne because she believed he would stop talking to her sister if she maintained contact.

The victim said she performed numerous sex acts with Payne, although she didn't want anything to do with him. Some of the acts took place in parking lots, and others at a home on Booth Avenue.

"I was scared of everybody finding out," the victim testified. "I did what he wanted me to do and (thought) he would leave my family alone."

The victim also said Payne would show up at OCTC when she was taking classes, would leave letters and other items on her car window and texted her continuously when she broke contact with him in 2018.

Payne also created a fake Facebook page of the victim, which included an explicit photograph of her, and would attach other explicit photos to her social media posts, the victim testified. When Payne wouldn't stop contacting her, she went to the sheriff's department and obtained an emergency protective order against him.

In his opening statement, Van Meter said the investigation launched by the victim led to search warrants executed for Payne's vehicles and the Booth Avenue home. At the home, which is owned by a family member, detectives found a phone that was unlocked by a pass code Payne gave Indiana State Police detectives.

The phone taken from Booth Avenue contained "lots of images of children, some of which we can identify," Van Meter said. The phone contained screen shots of two nude juveniles that were traced to Webster County, who were 12 and 14 at the time, Van Meter said. There were also nude images of a 10-year-old girl from Daviess County on the phone, Van Meter said.

The 10-year-old, who is now 15, testified she was contacted on social media by a boy named "Alex," who claimed to be 12 years old. The juvenile testified the conversations online were normal at first, but then "Alex" began insisting she send nude photos.

"Over time it progressed to him asking, I would say begging, me to send him explicit pictures," the 15-year-old testified.

Payne's attorney, William Butler, asked the 15-year-old if she knew to whom she was sending the photos.

"I was aware I was sending them to a 12-year-old," she said.

Butler said the victim who started the investigation was 17, and over the age of consent at the time when the sexual acts occurred. The only charge stemming from that victim is a charge of use of a minor in a sexual performance (victim under 18), for a video showing the woman engaged in a sex act. The video was found on a phone confiscated by ISP detectives when they executed a search warrant in Tell City.

Butler, in his opening statement, told jurors the phone found at the Booth Avenue home was old and no longer in use by Payne.

"The evidence will show several different people had access to the phone," Butler said.

Regarding the images on the phone, Butler said, "it's going to be your job to determine if you see a sexual performance, or if you see a naked picture."

The trial resumes Wednesday, Oct. 27, in Daviess Circuit Court.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse