Pictures taken last week of a Navajo man's penis and "stumpy" thumbs reportedly link him to the photographed sexual assault of a toddler.
Carl Carlson of the Navajo Nation committed aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual exploitation of a child and possessed child pornography, according to a complaint filed on Friday in U.S. District Court by the FBI.
Carlson's wife talked to Phoenix police in March of 2011 after she found a "large stack" of pictures in a car of the young girl being molested by a man she believed was her husband.
The girl, a few years older now, was probably between 1 and 4 years old when she was assaulted, authorities believe.
Several of the pictures showed a man's fingers and penis touching or being inserted into the girl's vagina. It's unclear from the criminal complaint whether the pictures one or more separate assaults.
Carlson's face wasn't in the photos, but his wife told police she knew it was him because she recognized his distinctly discolored penis and "stumpy" thumbs. She confronted him before going to the police, but Carlson denied he was the man in the pictures.
The girl, when interviewed by agents, had no recollection of the molestation.
Authorities tried to find Carlson soon after his wife made her report, but he had vanished. In July of 2012, though, he was arrested on an unrelated charge and held in jail. A federal search warrant was issued on November 2 that allowed the FBI to photograph Carlson's hands and penis, which they did on November 7.
The new photographs "match the male's penis and thumbs depicted in the seized child pornography photographs..." the complaint says.
Having the suspect's face in the pictures might have been better, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got.
