Former deputy sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for receiving child pornography

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A former Franklin County corrections officer was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 97 months in prison for receiving child pornography. As part of his sentence, he was also ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution to the victims depicted in the images.

Daniel P. Heintz, 39, of Columbus, was charged by criminal complaint in February 2021.

According to court documents, authorities were alerted to messages sent by Heintz on Kik Messenger in mid-August 2020. In the conversations, Heintz discussed with an Illinois man their mutual sexual interest for children, and exchanged images of themselves and of pornography, including child pornography. Heintz received sexually explicit videos from the man of a girl 13 to 15 years old.

An affidavit details that Heintz discussed sexually abusing a minor to whom he had access. He discussed photographing the minor in the victim’s sleep and conduct he would commit – as well as sexual abuse the Illinois man could commit – to the minor victim.

On Feb. 11, 2021, law enforcement officials executed search warrants at Heintz’s residence and of his person at his place of employment, the Franklin County Correctional Center on S. Front Street.

A forensic examination of his electronics revealed thousands of images of prepubescent minors, some as young as toddler age, engaged in explicit sexual conduct and being sexually abused.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Westerville Police Chief Charles Chandler and other members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Senior Litigation Counsel Heather A. Hill and Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

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