Ohio Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced an Ohio man to 16 years in prison for inducing a Missouri teen to send him nude images and videos.

Joseph Bauer, 27, of Cleveland, met a 14-year-old girl via an online social media app in roughly August of 2021.The two communicated regularly online until July 2023. In numerous chat messages Bauer told the victim to send him nude pictures of herself. He also discussed plans for her to leave her family and live with him. In July of 2023, the victim was in Ohio with family. Bauer picked her up and took her to his home. She was found later the same day by police.

Bauer pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in August St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography

The Morrow County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office, the Cleveland Police Department, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.