Fairfield Man Sentenced for Owning Images of Sexual Abuse of Children

CINCINNATI – Richard Jay Sharp, 55, formerly of Fairfield, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 120 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Steve Francis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black.

According to court documents, Sharp engaged in sexually graphic conversation with an undercover Australian Federal Police Officer and discussed sexual behavior the defendant was engaged in or sought to engage in with prepubescent girls.

Sharp directed the undercover officer to a chatroom that included several images of child pornography. For example, two images depicted an adult male sexually abusing a prepubescent female. In the images, the child victim had her mouth and hand on the naked adult male’s penis.

As part of the investigation, it was learned that the FBI also had an ongoing investigation on the defendant. Federal authorities had been alerted after Shaw returned a company-owned laptop and other employees discovered a number of images and file names that were of child pornography.

A review of those images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) found 13 of the images recovered were from 13 different known child victims.

Sharp was arrested in November 2016 in Pittsburgh, where he had recently relocated. His personal items were left with his landlord, who contacted agents concerning two computers and seven thumb drives. The electronic devices contained more than 1,300 images and videos of child erotica.

Sharp pleaded guilty in August 2017 to two counts of possessing child pornography, one charged in this District and one transferred from the Western District of Pennsylvania.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by HSI, FBI and the Australian Federal Police, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Oakley, who is representing the United States in this case. 

###