COLUMBUS—Steven Ray Tackett, 45, of Cardington, pleaded guilty in United States District Court here today to one count of sexual exploitation of children, admitting that he took sexually explicit photos of an 8-year-old girl and posted the pictures on an Internet photo-sharing site. Tackett faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years’ imprisonment.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Galion Police Chief Brian Saterfield announced the plea entered today before Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Holschuh.
According to a statement read in court by the investigating agent, detectives in the Galion Police Special Investigation Unit began investigating Tackett as the result of a complaint received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline and shared with the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force based in Cleveland. Galion Police determined that Tackett had recently moved from Galion to Cardington.
Detectives in the Special Investigation Unit questioned Tackett April 8, 2010 in connection with the production of the photographs and referred the case to the FBI task force for investigation and prosecution because the photos had been produced using camera phone that had traveled in interstate commerce.
Tackett admitted using a computer in the Cardington library to upload the photos to his Internet photo-sharing account.
Tackett has been in custody since he was charged in a federal complaint on May 7, 2010. Judge Holschuh will set a date for sentencing. In addition to the prison time, the potential sentence for sexual exploitation of children includes a period of supervised release of at least five years and up to life.
“Anyone can help in the fight against child sexual exploitation by reporting instances of child pornography to NCMEC’s CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678,” Stewart said. “The information will be shared with law enforcement for investigation and possible prosecution.”
Stewart commended the joint investigation and cooperation by the Galion Police Special Investigation Unit, FBI Task Force, and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hunter and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Pelphrey with Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s Office, who are prosecuting the case.
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