Clermont County Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

CINCINNATI – Richard Lee Devito, 35, of Batavia, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 30 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for creating child pornography.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Todd A. Wickerham, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott.

Devito knowingly induced more than 25 minors to send him sexual or nude videos and photographs over the Internet. The minors were typically between the ages of eight and 12. He would often encourage the children to rub their genitalia and place objects up their vagina or anus.

For example, Devito induced an eight-year-old female to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of making child pornography. Devito used the messaging app “ooVoo,” pretended to be a 13-year-old and persuaded the child to send him videos of her naked.

Between his two identified accounts on ooVoo, Devito had more than 1,300 pages of chats with minors. Devito exploited victims for months and pretended to be a child himself. His victims spanned the nation and internationally, and also included two minor girls in the greater Cincinnati area. In some instances, Devito first met his victims on the app “musical.ly.”

According to one parent’s victim impact statement: “The pictures were captured in my daughters’ bedroom. In a place that we were convinced was safe. Somehow things went from them making dorky lip syncing videos to something beyond my comprehension and I never saw it coming. He broke into our safe zone and he manipulated our girls and I never saw it coming. … He manipulated them. He stole their innocence.”

“The lasting damage of Devito’s crimes goes beyond the creation of sexually explicit videos and images of minor children,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “It damages relationships, hurts families, and alters the development of the victim children. Devito’s case should serve as an example that if you prey on children through the Internet, you will be identified, investigated, and prosecuted.”

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of the FBI and Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle J. Healey and Timothy S. Mangan, who are representing the United States in this case.

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