Jackson Man Sentenced to 300 Months in Prison for Sex with Minor

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dennis K. Rawlins, 68, of Jackson, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 300 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for sexually exploiting a minor.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, Reynoldsburg Police Chief Jim O’Neill, Westerville Police Chief Joseph Morbitzer and other members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson.

According to court documents, Rawlins was found in a motel room with a 15-year-old boy in January 2016. A search of digital media in the room revealed child pornography, messages between Rawlins and a co-defendant, Mark R. Heyd, and numerous photos of the boy victim in various stages of nudity. Rawlins admitted to taking the nude photos of the boy while in the hotel room and to engaging in sex acts with the boy while Heyd watched on webcam.

Rawlins pleaded guilty on August 24, 2016 to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, specifically, using a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. He was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.

Heyd, 61, of Kailua, Hawaii, was sentenced on March 7 to 270 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography. His case was unsealed today.

Heyd arranged for Rawlins and the victim to rent hotel rooms where Rawlins would engage in sex acts with the boy and Heyd would watch via web cam.

Both defendants faced enhanced sentences because of prior convictions related to the molestation of minor boys.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Heather A. Hill and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rausch, Director of the Franklin County Special Victims Unit, who are representing the United States in this case.

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