Connersville Photographer Charged with Multiple Federal Child Exploitation Crimes

An arrest was made last Friday.

Shutterstock photo. Shepard's mugshot was not provided.

(Connersville, Ind.) – Mikell Shepard has been charged by federal complaint with three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child and one count of Possession of Child Pornography.

The 22-year-old from Connersville and the owner of Shepard Photography and Boudoir by Shepard, was transported today from Fayette County Jail to federal custody and will remain in custody of the United States for all future proceedings in this case.

According to the criminal complaint, on October 23, 2025, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Indianapolis received a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The report included investigative findings submitted by Google, which identified content in Shepard’s account believed to depict sexually explicit images and videos of minor children.

Google reviewed and flagged more than 400 files allegedly showing minors engaged in sexual acts, as well as over 1,000 files depicting the lascivious exhibition of the genitals of minors.

On October 24, law enforcement executed a state search warrant at Shepard’s residence.

Investigators allegedly discovered sexually explicit images and videos of minors allegedly produced by Shepard in both professional and personal settings, including while babysitting. These images reportedly include both female and male children, as young as 9 months old. The images and videos date from as recently as October 2025, with some files from the summer of 2024.

Shepard’s Facebook account advertises him as a professional photographer who “works well with families, children, and infants.”

Shepard has been known to babysit several children, and has photographed children at a daycare, skating rink, and a gymnastics center in or near Connersville. Investigators believe there may be additional victims.

If you believe a child may have been victimized by Mikell Shepard, please contact Fayette County/Connersville Police non-emergency dispatch at (765) 825-2111.