Ohio Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For Ordering, Receiving, And Paying For Child Sexual Abuse Material On Social Media

LAS VEGAS – A Waterville, Ohio, resident was sentenced today by United States District Judge Cristina D. Silva to 15 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release for the sexual exploitation of children that he met on social media messaging applications and then coerced them to make and send him child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, on September 25, 2023, Todd Maxson, 56, began a conversation with a 14-year-old girl in Nevada via Telegram, an internet-based social media application that allows users to privately message each other. Almost daily between September 25, 2023, and October 19, 2023, Maxson ordered, received, and paid for sexually explicit images and videos of the victim via Cash App. Additionally, Maxson sought out females expressing suicidal or depressive tendencies and encouraged the behavior by requesting sexual content depicting self-harm, cutting, and bleeding. He would send knives to the children to help them make the videos.

In October 2024, Maxson pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual exploitation of children, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. In addition to imprisonment, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Maxson must register as a sex offender and keep the registration current.

Acting United States Attorney Sue Fahami for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI Las Vegas Division made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Afroza Yeasmin prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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.

Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or online at https://report.cybertip.org.

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