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Press Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mark W. Wolfe, 51, of Sunbury, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 180 months in prison, 20 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution for distribution of child pornography.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Westerville Police Chief Joseph Morbitzer announced the sentence handed down today by Chief U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.
According to court documents, undercover investigators observed files containing child pornography being shared through an IP address belonging to Wolfe. During a search warrant executed on July 31, 2015 at Wolfe’s residence, investigators discovered a laptop containing approximately 486 videos and 203 images of child pornography.
The files were located in several folders on the computer under the user name “Mark.” Some of the videos showed children as young as eight to ten months old being sexually abused. Approximately 67 of the videos found on the Dell computer were live webcam sessions depicting children being repeatedly sexually assaulted, that WOLFE watched and recorded utilizing screen capture software.
Further forensic analysis of the computer revealed Skype chat messages between Wolfe and several other individuals. In these conversations, Wolfe distributed child pornography files, claimed to have previously engaged in sex acts with minors and stated that his favorite age is five to ten years old.
Wolfe was charged by indictment in September 2015 and pleaded guilty in March 2016.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation by the FBI Columbus Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes officers from the Westerville Police Department, Reynoldsburg Police Department, Powell Police Department and Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather A. Hill, who is prosecuting the case.