Cincinnati Man Who Used Phone To Create Child Pornography Will Serve 20 Years In Prison

CINCINNATI – Stephen Edward Peelman, 32, Cincinnati, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison for producing sexually explicit photographs of an 11-year old child.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett.  

According to court documents, on September 14, 2012, the Cincinnati Police Department received a report identifying Peelman as a potential subject of a criminal investigation involving a minor female child. Investigation led to the search of Peelman’s residence. Among the items seized from his residence was a cellular telephone. Forensic analysis of the phone revealed it contained pornographic images of the child. Peelman pleaded guilty on March 28, 2014 to one count of production of child pornography. At the plea hearing, he admitted that he had taken the photos.

Peelman has been in custody since January 2013. Judge Barrett ordered that he not receive credit for time served. Peelman was also sentenced to remain under court supervision for the rest of his life after he serves his prison time. Under court supervision, he will be required to register as a sex offender anywhere that he lives, works or goes to school. He will also be prohibited from any contact with minor children and will not be allowed to loiter anywhere that minors congregate including playgrounds, arcades, amusement parks or public swimming pools.

Members of the Greater Cincinnati Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force assisted with the investigation. Agencies in the task force are the FBI, the Regional Electronics and Computer Investigations (RECI) unit from Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, and the police departments in Amberley Village, Blue Ash, Cincinnati and West Chester.

This case was brought 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the task force officers who investigated the case, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy who represented the United States in this case.