Meth and FaceTime lead to Jasper man’s arrest

A Jasper man was arrested Wednesday after police opened an investigation into two Jasper High School students receiving lewd images via FaceTime on their cellphones.

Weston D. Rust, 26, of 919 E. 15th Street, was taken in on a warrant for two Level 6 felony counts of dissemination of harmful matter to a minor.

According to court documents, 0n April 19, 2017, the Jasper police officer who serves as the school’s resource officer was notified that two female students were receiving inappropriate images on their cellphones at Jasper High School. The victims, 14- and 15-year-old girls, had received multiple calls from the same number via FaceTime — a video phone call application — on their phones.

During the FaceTime calls, the man later identified as Rust was naked.

One of the victims said she was receiving calls from Rust about every five minutes and the other stated she received about 34 calls before blocking his number.

The Jasper officer tracked the number down to a Trac Phone belonging to Rust.

However, Rust reported to the Jasper Police Department the same day to turn himself in, according to the court document.

During a subsequent interview conducted on April 26, Rust told police he had snorted about 5 grams of methamphetamine outside his girlfriend’s house the day of the incident. He told police he didn’t remember anything that happened that day and had lost his cellphone and shoes.

He also stated he didn’t remember FaceTiming anyone and he didn’t know the female victims nor how he got their numbers.

When police showed him screenshots of the FaceTime calls, Rust positively identified himself in the images, according to court documents.

Rust was booked into the Dubois County Security Center.