Ankeny Suspect in Child Porn Case Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

An Ankeny man charged with possessing more than a million images of child pornography is dead and may have committed suicide, KCCI.com reports.

Paul Hildreth, 48, was arrested June 18 on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and dissemination of obscene material of a minor.

Polk County Sheriff's deputies found his body Sunday afternoon near a family member's home on Northwest Madrid Drive in Polk City, but they don't know how long he had been there, the TV station said.

"The call that we received was just for the deputies to come out and help locate him. They hadn’t seen Paul for some time," Sgt. Brent Long of the Polk County Sheriff's Office told KCCI.

Deputies said Hildreth's death does not appear suspicious.

Police released information about the child porn case so that if any local children were victims of the suspect, they would come forward so additional charges could be filed.

“It was a huge amount,” Pleasant Hill police spokesman Officer Adam Choat told the Des Moines Register about the amount of pornography allegedly found on Hildreth's computer. 

Hildreth was released from the Polk County Jail after posting $60,000 bond.

An autopsy will be completed Monday morning, but a spokesman for the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Hildreth's death appears to be a suicide.

Authorities said they have closed the case.