A 25-year-old McCordsville man will spend the next 30 years behind bars after admitting to a string of child exploitation crimes uncovered across two separate criminal cases, the second of which surfaced while he was already out on bond from the first. Syed Ayan Tirmizi pleaded guilty to charges stretching from incidents that began in 2021 through material investigators traced to April 2025, and a Hancock Circuit Court judge ordered his sentences to run one after another rather than at the same time.
Tirmizi's legal troubles trace back to incidents beginning in July 2021 and continuing through March 2023, according to The Daily Reporter. He was first arrested in February 2024 on 13 child exploitation offenses, a case that included 11 Level 6 felony counts of possessing child pornography, one Level 5 felony possession count with an aggravating factor, and one Level 6 felony count of performance harmful to minors. An IP address tied to Tirmizi's residence on North Crestview Trail in McCordsville helped anchor that initial case.
That first prosecution had roots outside Indiana entirely. Florida's Clay County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation in May 2022 after uncovering online messaging between Tirmizi and a 15-year-old girl who had told him she was 14, a case history later summarized by the Daily Reporter, which noted that Florida authorities passed the evidence along to McCordsville police.
A Second Arrest While Out on Bond
Tirmizi's case took a dramatic turn in July 2025, when he was arrested a second time on 20 additional child exploitation charges — this time while still out on bond awaiting trial in the first case, as previously reported by Hoodline. That second investigation began when a Fishers police officer was assigned a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August 2024 concerning child pornography. Investigators say a chat involving Tirmizi was dated April 28, 2025, and that he appeared to upload or distribute nine sexually exploitative images or videos of children that same month, including a file exploiting a toddler believed to be three to four years old.
Following his rearrest, a Hancock Circuit Court judge set Tirmizi's cash bond at $75,000 and imposed strict pretrial conditions barring him from possessing electronic devices or contacting minors, according to the Daily Reporter's earlier coverage. The second investigation involved a Homeland Security Investigations officer who was also serving as a Greenfield police officer, underscoring how the case crossed both federal and local lines.
Guilty Pleas and a Stacked Sentence
At sentencing, Tirmizi pleaded guilty across both cases to five Level 4 felony counts of child exploitation, two Level 5 felony counts of possession of child pornography, two Level 6 felony counts of possession of child pornography, and one Level 6 felony count of performance harmful to minors. He received a four-year sentence for each of the five exploitation counts and a 20-year sentence at the Indiana Department of Correction, with an additional 10-year sentence suspended to sex offender reporting probation.
All five sentences were ordered to run consecutively, and the sentences in the second case were likewise ordered to run consecutively to each other and to the sentence from the first case — stacking his total time behind bars to 20 years, followed by 10 years on sex offender reporting probation. Investigators say Tirmizi possessed more than 150 images of children under 12 years old. Under Indiana Code 11-8-8, his convictions require him to register as a sex offender for 10 years after release and comply with mandatory reporting and residency restrictions, as outlined by Keffer Hirschauer LLP. He is also barred from any contact with identified victims for the duration of his sentence.
Prosecutor and Defendant Speak in Court
Hancock County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Aimee Herring told the court that Tirmizi's offenses are considered heinous, adding that “a picture exploiting a child is never just a picture.” Herring credited the McCordsville Police Department, the Hamilton County Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for their roles in building the case.
Tirmizi addressed the court as well, saying there was no excuse for his behavior and expressing remorse for his actions, the outlet reported.
How the Task Force System Works
The Hamilton County Metro ICAC Task Force that helped crack the second case is headquartered at the Fishers Police Department and draws detectives from agencies including Fishers, Greenfield, Carmel, Westfield, and Noblesville. It operates under the umbrella of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is overseen by the Indiana State Police and unites more than 50 local, state, and federal agencies, according to state records.
That statewide network reported 499 arrests for child sex crimes and the rescue of 126 children from ongoing abuse during 2025, per the Indiana State Police. Much of that enforcement traces back to tips like the one that reopened Tirmizi's case: the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says its CyberTipline received 21.3 million total reports in 2025 alone, a volume that helps explain how a single flagged file can set off a cascading, multi-agency investigation months later.
Under Indiana's felony sentencing statutes, a Level 4 felony conviction carries a fixed term of two to 12 years with an advisory sentence of six years and fines up to $10,000, while a Level 5 felony carries one to six years with a three-year advisory sentence, and a Level 6 felony carries six months to two and a half years with a one-year advisory sentence. Tirmizi's stacked, consecutive sentences across both cases reflect how Indiana courts can compound penalties for offenders who continue committing crimes while already facing charges.
