Aspiring Rap Artist Charged with Producing Child Pornography in Music Videos

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal grand jury has charged Eric D. Chavis, 23, of Columbus, with conspiracy to produce and production of child pornography in an indictment returned in Columbus.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and members of the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, including Marlon V. Miller, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, announced the indictment that was unsealed yesterday.

The indictment alleges that Chavis recruited minor victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct in his rap music videos. Chavis then posted those videos via the Internet on websites including Facebook.com, Pornhub.com, Youtube.com and Instagram.com.

Chavis is charged with one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, and three counts of production of child pornography, each punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Co-defendants Lamont D. Abbington, 29, of Kissimmee, Fla., Carlton S. Jackson, 30, of Toledo, and Mareekus E. Davis, 22, of Columbus, are each also charged with one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, for their roles in recruiting, directing or engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the minor victims in the rap videos.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which was formed in 2012 and is part of the Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, and which also includes authorities from the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, Columbus Division of Police, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Powell Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Hill and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brant Cook, director of the Ohio Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Initiative, are representing the government in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.