35-Year Sentence for Habitual Sex Offender who Produced Child Pornography

DAYTON – James Rapier, 42, of Rossburg, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 35 years in prison for coercing teenage girls to send him sexually explicit pictures of themselves.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Steve Francis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Darke County Sheriff Toby L. Spencer announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.

Rapier pleaded guilty in January to coercing a 13-year old female in February 2018 and a 15-year old female in December 2017 to send him sexually explicit photos of themselves. At the times Rapier committed the acts, he was under a requirement to register as a sex offender. In 2000, he was convicted of one count of Gross Sexual Imposition and two counts of Corruption of a Minor in Darke County. In 2005, he was classified as a habitual sex offender when he was convicted of Pandering Obscenity Involving a Minor in Darke County.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by HSI and the Darke County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Assistant United States Attorney SaMee Harden, who is representing the United States in this case.

# # #