Bastrop Co. investigates man for inappropriate conduct with children

The Texas Attorney General's Office is investigating a child pornography case out of Bastrop County. It led to the arrest of a Cedar Creek man. Now, the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office believes he may have also come into contact with children in the area.

40-year-old Jason Matthew Pertolanitz is behind bars in Bastrop County, on one count of possession of child pornography.

"These are the kind of things that make you appreciate being in law-enforcement, because you can stop somebody from preying on children. Whether it's preying on them through pornography, or if it is through physical contact, this is important to us," says Sheriff Maurice Cook, Bastrop County Sheriff's Office.

The Child Exploitation Unit for the Texas Attorney General's Office executed a search warrant of his Cedar Creek home on April 18th. This is after they received several CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

According to court documents, several files of child pornography were found on Pertolanitz' cell phone. Investigators say one video shows two children who appear to be 10-12 years old. The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office was requested to assist with that search. Now they are expanding the investigation, to include the possibility of inappropriate conduct with children.

"There is something that sparked our interest in this. So we have found indicators that there has been possibly a child that has been victimized in this case," says Sheriff Cook.

But, they don't want to overlook the fact that there could be others. They want anyone with information to come forward. 

"We don't know how and what his involvement in the community with children has been. Certainly in family situations, you know we do come in contact with children with other family members and so forth, so we do want to explore that. Also any outside children he might have had contact with," says Sheriff Cook.

The Attorney General's Office says Pertolanitz did confess to using his cell phone to download and save child pornography. Investigators also confiscated additional digital storage devices that will be examined. More charges could be added dependent on what is found. If convicted of Possession of Child Pornography, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

If you have any information, you're asked to call Investigator Danny Wofford at 512-549-5068.