A registered sex offender from Washington Court House, Ohio, Brian J. Roberts, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of sexually exploiting a minor and possessing child pornography. The 44-year-old admitted to sharing explicit material involving infants and toddlers and sexually abusing a young boy.
Federal agents initiated an investigation into Roberts due to his activities on dark web sites dedicated to the sexual abuse of children. Court documents reveal that from November 2022 until August 2023, Roberts exploited a three-year-old boy he had access to, uploading videos and photos of the abuse online. One such video was titled "Preview.mp4," depicting over three minutes of abuse and concluding with the phrase “NEXT TIME…POTTY FUN!”
Roberts uploaded 195 images to one dark web site, over half of which depicted the sexual abuse of babies and toddlers as young as three weeks old.
At the time of these offenses, Roberts was already a twice-convicted sex offender with previous convictions in Madison and Clark counties. Additionally, he had an active warrant in Highland County for telecommunications harassment related to attempts at contacting a family member of the abused child.
The federal crime of sexually exploiting a minor carries a sentence ranging from 15 to 30 years in prison, while possession of child pornography can result in up to 20 years imprisonment. If deemed a predicate offense due to prior convictions, Roberts could face between 25 and 50 years for exploitation charges and between 10 and 20 years for possession charges.
Sentencing will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines at an upcoming hearing. The guilty plea was announced by Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, alongside Angie M. Salazar from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Detroit. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is handling prosecution for this case.