COLUMBUS, Ohio – A registered sex offender pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court here today to sexually exploiting a minor and possessing child pornography.
Brian J. Roberts, 44, of Washington Court House, admitted to sharing child pornography of infants and toddlers and sexually abusing a young boy.
According to court documents, federal agents began investigating Roberts as a result of his activity across various dark web sites dedicated to the sexual abuse of children.
Roberts sexually exploited an approximately 3-year-old boy he had access to from November 2022 until August 2023 and uploaded videos and photos of the abuse. For example, one video titled Preview.mp4 showed more than three minutes of Roberts sexually abusing the child and ended with the words “NEXT TIME…POTTY FUN!”
The defendant uploaded 195 images to one dark web site, more than 100 of which focused on child sexual abuse of babies and toddlers as young as three weeks old.
Roberts was a twice-convicted sex offender at the time of his online conduct. He has prior convictions in Madison and Clark counties and, at the time of his arrest, had an active warrant in Highland County for telecommunications harassment toward a family member of the 3-year-old boy based on his alleged attempts to contact the child.
Sexually exploiting a minor is a federal crime punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison and possessing child pornography carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. If the Court finds that Roberts’s prior conviction qualifies as a predicate offense, he will face 25 to 50 years in prison and 10 to 20 years in prison respectively.
Congress sets minimum and maximum statutory sentences and sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.
Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Angie M. Salazar, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Detroit, announced the guilty plea entered today before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.
