Indiana man who allegedly tried to blow up neighbor's car charged with child porn

LAPORTE, Ind. (WLS) -- A northern Indiana man faces child pornography charges, which stem from an investigation that started with allegations that he tried to blow up his neighbor's car, federal authorities announced on Monday.

And it all started when his neighbor found something strange done to her car.

Police in LaPorte, Ind., arrested Eric Weiler in August after his neighbor's car was allegedly wired to explode.

"He disconnected wires from a light in the car and ran them into the gas tank which could have caused the vehicle to explode," said Thomas Kirsch, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana.

"The explosive nature of gasoline and depending on how much gasoline you have in the tank there you have the potential for such a bomb," said John Espar, LaPorte County prosecutor.

In the course of the arrest, bomb making materials were discovered. Officers also seized computers, hard drives, cameras and cellphones. What they found lead to a federal investigation.

It took months for federal investigators to gather evidence on the suspect's computers.

They haven't looked at it all, but what they saw was enough to file additional charges.

"A search of a fraction of these devices revealed 24,000 images of suspected child pornography and over 80 videos of child pornography," Kirsch said.

Weiler is now charged with possession and production of child pornography and faces additional state charges of molesting a child and attempted murder.

"His use of violence in order to carry out acts of sexual assault may have been a part of the motivating factor in the creation of the bombs," Espar said.

Weiler will be in federal court sometime this week for a detention hearing.

He will be transferred to U.S. Marshals custody as the federal case will be tried first.