Rebecca C. Lutzko United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
Myrl M. Reynolds Jr., a 44-year-old resident of Wellsville, Ohio, was sentenced on Mar. 26 to more than twelve years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Reynolds received a sentence of 151 months in prison from U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan, following his December 2025 guilty plea to Receipt and Distribution of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct and Possession of Child Pornography. He was also ordered to serve ten years of supervised release after his imprisonment and pay $13,000 in restitution.
According to court documents, Reynolds used a social media platform to exchange images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children with others online. Some individuals he contacted were undercover federal agents. In one instance, Reynolds told an undercover agent that he had sexually abused a ten-year-old minor and expressed interest in “younger/incest” pornography. The social media platform reported nearly seventy files associated with Reynolds through cyber tip reports.
A search warrant led investigators to seize electronic devices from Reynolds containing nearly five hundred images and videos depicting child sexual abuse, including material involving infants as well as torture and rape of prepubescent children. Evidence showed that he actively sought out minors online for discussions about his sexual fantasies.
The FBI Youngstown Resident Agency led the investigation resulting in Reynolds' indictment. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer J. King prosecuted the case for the Northern District Ohio.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide aimed at combating child exploitation on the internet by coordinating federal, state, and local resources.
