Austin man charged in child porn case told police he planned to report others

(ABC 6 News) – An Austin man charged with possession and dissemination of child pornography allegedly told police he had planned to report other Kik users for sharing child porn.

According to court documents, police found no evidence that Jared Michael Bednar, 25, had reported Kik users to the app or law enforcement.
They did, however, locate messages from Bednar requesting child pornography and sharing it with others, according to court documents.

In October of 2024, Austin police received a cyber tip about a Kik user who uploaded more than 100 files of suspected Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), or child pornography.

The tips had similar IP addresses, and the email included the term “xenon,” with the username “Jared Bednar.”

According to court documents, Ip addresses connected to some of the CSAM uploads led to a home in Austin, as well as the Austin Country Club on 28th Street NE and another business on 17th Avenue.

Both businesses used the same cleaning service, which employs Bednar.

In November, Austin police allegedly reviewed Bednar’s Kik account history and chat logs, which included conversations about the sale and exchange of child pornography.

When law enforcement discussed the Kik account with Bednar, he allegedly claimed he used the account to search for adult pornography, then said he got CSAM files from other people but wanted to ‘get evidence on them’ and would then report users to get them blocked from the app.

“The defendant later admitted that he also saved CSAM files to his phone’s gallery because his Kik account got banned,” court documents read.

Law enforcement seized Bednar’s phone, then located two more iPhones, an HP laptop, a desktop tower, and an external hard drive–all of which were sent to the BCA for examination.

His next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 26.