Dublin Man Sentenced to 262 Months in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

COLUMBUS—John K. Hughes, 70, of Dublin, was sentenced in United States District Court here today to 262 months in prison for sexually exploiting a girl from the time she was 4 until she was 11 and taking more than 500 sexually explicit photographs of her.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Division (FBI); Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine; Dublin Interim Chief of Police Heinz von Eckartsberg; and Powell Police Chief Gary Vest announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley.

Hughes pleaded guilty on December 10, 2010 to one count of sexual exploitation of children. He was charged in July 2010 after the victim told law enforcement that she had been the victim of abuse.

Agents and officers with the FBI Cybercrimes Task Force executed a search warrant at Hughes’ house. They found a DVD containing sexually explicit images of the victim. Several of the images were taken in a bedroom of the residence. Agents executed a second search warrant at a campground in Senecaville where Hughes owned a camper. Agents took two cameras, a laptop computer, and several media storage items from the campsite.

An initial forensic review of the computers, cameras, and media uncovered approximately 500 images on the DVD of the victim posed nude and in sexually explicit positions and another approximately 75 photos of the victim on his computer.

Hughes was arrested and has been in custody since his arrest.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the agents of the FBI Task Force, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hunter, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Pelphrey with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office, who prosecuted the case.