COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man convicted at trial in summer 2021 of crimes related to creating child pornography of his sexual abuse of a 5-year-old was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 300 months in prison.
A jury convicted Christopher M. Sammons, 28, of four child exploitation crimes in June 2021.
“Sammons’ conduct is truly some of the worst of the worst," United States Attorney Kenneth L. Parker said. “The defendant molested a 5-year-old child repeatedly and shared pornographic images of the child with others. His prison sentence is deserved. This office will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone who abuses the most vulnerable in our society."
According to court documents and trial testimony, on March 11, 2019, an undercover FBI agent in Little Rock, Arkansas, received a message from Sammons regarding sexual interest in children.
Throughout their conversations, Sammons encouraged the undercover agent to “just make some homemade stuff" when discussing the availability of child pornography.
Sammons detailed sexually abusing a then 5-year-old victim and also offered to “share her next time if you’re interested in a long-term thing." Sammons sent the agent child pornography files and suggested plans for he and the agent to exchange videos of themselves sexually abusing minors.
Based on IP address information, the investigative lead was forwarded to FBI Columbus and a Task Force Officer here began communicating with Sammons. Sammons told the task force officer he had been sexually abusing the victim for a year.
Sammons abused the victim while he was babysitting her and he was scheduled to babysit on the day he had arranged to exchange sexually explicit videos with the undercover agent. Law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Sammons’ house before the scheduled babysitting began, preventing Sammons from engaging in the planned pornographic exchange.
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 District; 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 Court Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Senior Litigation Counsel Heather A. Hill and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Rausch, Legal Director of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Human Trafficking Initiative, represented the United States in this case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
