A semi-truck driver is accused of looking at porn sites while driving and causing a crash that led to the death of a 31-week-old fetus.

Joel Adam Sassmann, 52, faces nine counts of criminal vehicular operation. He was charged via a summons to appear and is not currently in custody at Rice County Jail. His first court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 18.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Rice County District Court last week, the crash occurred on Aug. 20, 2023, on northbound I-35 near milepost 53.

Investigators say a semi-truck rear-ended a Chevy Suburban that had slowed down due to construction traffic. The suburban was then pushed into a Ford Escape and the Ford Escape was pushed into a Honda Accord. The Accord went into the ditch and the Escape then hit a Volvo SUV, which then hit a second Ford Escape.

Court documents say after the semi rear-ended the Suburban, it went into the ditch.

Both front occupants of the Chevy Suburban suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be airlifted to the hospital. The woman in the passenger seat was 31 weeks pregnant and had to undergo an emergency C-section.

The baby died of injuries from the crash, court documents state, with an autopsy determining blunt force trauma from the crash was the cause of the infant’s death.

There were also three young children in the back of the Chevy Suburban who were injured in the crash and brought to the hospital.

Occupants in the other vehicles reported non-life-threatening or no injuries.

When interviewing the driver of the semi, identified as Sassmann, he told troopers, “Everything just stopped and I ran into the back of that car.” A trooper asked what he was doing that caused him to not see that traffic was stopped and Sassmann replied, “Just driving.”

Court documents state that the trooper believed Sassmann was distracted at the time of the crash due to there being over a mile of unobstructed roadway to see stopped traffic and that other vehicles were able to stop with no issue.

Witnesses and other drivers involved in the pile-up confirmed that there was plenty of time to slow down and stop before the crash, along with traffic signs to let drivers know about the construction. A camera on the windshield on the semi showed that Sassmann was driving around 70 mph before the crash, and that the other vehicles were driving “substantially slower,” court documents state.

When authorities found Sassmann’s phone, there was a photo of a semi-nude woman on the screen. Sassmann said he was looking at the photo but not at the time of the crash, court documents state.

Cell phone data also showed Sassmann was on several sex websites and was messaging with women on the websites, as well as Snapchat and Instagram, minutes before the crash.

Crash reconstruction found that the crash was Sassmann failing to recognize and react to the slowed traffic. There were signs warning drivers of the slowed traffic up to two miles before the crash, according to court documents.

Court documents also note that Sassmann didn’t have his full attention on the road.

“If the defendant [had] been alert to the slowed traffic, then he could have safely slowed his vehicle and this collision [wouldn’t have occurred],” the documents state.

Kevin DeVore, Sassmann’s lawyer, sent the following statement for 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS:

“I will simply say that we have just received the complaint and will be investigating the factual allegations in preparation of our defense against these charges. These are very serious charges, and we intend to vigorously defend Mr. Sassmann through the judicial process.“