COLUMBUS – Tony R. Fisher, 35, of Indianapolis pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of production of child pornography and one count of coercion of a minor in connection with a trip he made from Indianapolis to Columbus to engage in sexual activity with what he believed to be two young males.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Brian Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for Ohio and Michigan, Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott and other member agencies of the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the pleas entered today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King. 

According to a testimony presented during the hearing, Fisher approached an ICAC Task Force officer conducting an undercover investigation on the internet in May 2012 and offered to trade him pictures and videos of child pornography.  Fisher also engaged in a conversation with the undercover officer regarding his desire to engage in sexual activity with the undercover officer’s two fictitious minor foster children and told the officer he would like to “film” the sexual encounter.  The officer arranged a meeting at a location in Franklin County on June 1. When Fisher showed up, a sheriff’s deputy took him into custody. Officers obtained a federal search warrant, examined a laptop computer Fisher had with him and found several images and videos of child pornography.  Investigators in Indianapolis assisted in identifying a juvenile male who was depicted in some of the images on Fisher’s computer as a 13-year old boy that Fisher had mentored in Indianapolis.

Fisher has been in custody since his arrest.

Production of child pornography is punishable by at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Coercion is punishable by at least 10 years and up to life in prison. Senior U.S. District Judge James L. Graham will schedule a date for sentencing.

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 United States 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 task force agents who are conducting the investigation with assistance from law enforcement agencies in Indianapolis, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Hill in the Southern District of Ohio and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle Helart with the Southern District of Indiana, who are prosecuting the case.

 

 

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