Man accused in Indiana school threats indicted on 26 counts

INDIANAPOLIS – A federal grand jury in Indianapolis has returned a 26-count indictment against a California man charged with making online threats to blow up two suburban Indianapolis high schools.

The indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court charges 26-year-old Buster Hernandez of Bakersfield, California, with six counts of producing child pornography, three of distributing child pornography, four of threatening to use an explosive device and 13 counts of threats to injure.

Authorities say a Plainfield, Indiana, girl was threatened via Facebook in December 2015 after refusing to send sexually explicit photos of herself over the internet. The threats prompted temporary closures of the Plainfield and Danville high schools and a shopping centre.

Hernandez has a bond hearing scheduled for Friday. A telephone message seeking comment was left for his attorney.