A Medina man was indicted in federal court trying to induce a 13-year-old girl to engage in sexual activities with him and sending images of himself engaged in sexual activities, said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman.
Jason M. Sasso, 43, was named in the six-count indictment, with charges including enticement, attempted sexual exploitation of a child, receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and transferring obscenity to a minor.
Sasso, via cell phoned, attempted to persuade, induce, entice and coerce what he believed were two girls who had not attained the age of 18 years to engage in illegal sexual activity with him. This took place from Aug. 25 through Oct. 15, 2017, and again Oct. 11 through Oct. 24, 2017, according to the indictment.
Sasso also used a cell phone to transfer digital files with images of himself engaged in sexual activity to a law enforcement officer he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. He also attempted to persuade minor girls to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of producing a visual depiction of the conduct, according to the indictment.
He also received numerous images of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct or being sexually abused, according to the indictment.
If convicted, the sentence in this case will be determined by the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines which depend upon a number of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the unique characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael A. Sullivan following an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
