Columbus woman sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexually exploiting 3-year-old victim

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Becky Gillespie, 29, of Columbus, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 276 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 3-year-old victim, recording the abuse and distributing it to other exploiters.

Specifically, Gillespie was sentenced for sexual exploitation of a minor and distribution of child pornography.

According to court documents, on numerous dates in December 2023, Gillespie sent Snapchat videos or offered to send videos to other users that depicted Gillespie engaged in sex acts or sexually explicit conduct with the 3-year-old victim.

Law enforcement also discovered a photo of a second young victim, who was posed on Gillespie’s nude breasts in an image on her electronic devices.

One user with whom Gillespie communicated was under investigation in Australia for numerous child pornography related offenses. Gillespie and the other Snapchat user traded sexually explicit videos including the content Gillespie created of the 3-year-old.

As a result of information obtained by Australian Federal Police, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Canberra and the South Australian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, local HSI initiated an investigation into Gillespie.

Gillespie was charged in January 2024 and pleaded guilty in December 2024.

Kelly A. Norris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Jared Murphey, acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit, announced the sentence imposed on May 27 by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Rausch and Emily Czerniejewski are representing the United States in this case.

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