Three Ohio Men Sentenced to Prison in Case Involving Sexual Abuse of Toddlers

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three defendants in a child pornography case have been sentenced to prison.

David E. Fairchild, 45, of Kirkersville, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 456 months in prison. In March, Jesse G. Szuba, 31, of Newark, was sentenced to 220 months in prison and Mike Allen, 36, of Heath, was sentenced to 68 months in prison.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin, Vance Callander, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and other members of the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the sentences imposed by U.S. District Judge Michael H Watson.

The three men were charged in May 2018 in a second superseding indictment that was unsealed in late October.

According to court documents, in January 2018, the Franklin County ICAC Task Force received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding a video depicting child sexual abuse. The video was uploaded to Google from the username “David TwistedBottomFreak Fairchild” and depicted an adult male anally penetrating a toddler-aged child.

Investigation of the CyberTip revealed that Fairchild sexually abused a female victim, born in 2016, and created child pornography involving the victim. He thereafter sent the child pornography he created to others, including Szuba.

Likewise, Szuba attempted to produce child pornography involving a boy born in 2014.

Szuba and Fairchild met on Craigslist and communicated with each other about sexually abusing the toddlers. During their communications, they exchanged child pornography files and discussed plans to engage in various sex acts with each other and the victims.

Further, Szuba suggested other sex acts that Fairchild perpetrate against the female victim and asked Fairchild to send Szuba pictures or videos of that abuse. Fairchild similarly suggested that Szuba engage in sex acts with the male victim, and live stream such sexual abuse online.

In response to watching a video of Fairchild sexually abusing the toddler girl, Szuba messaged Fairchild that he “liked” the video “espically [sic] when she started whimpering.” Between January 26 and January 31, 2018, Szuba repeatedly requested, and Fairchild repeatedly sent, images and videos depicting sexual abuse of the female toddler.

Fairchild sent child pornography files to Allen, as well, including a link to Fairchild’s Google Drive account, which contained the video that prompted the CyberTip to NCMEC.

In January 2018, Fairchild sent six emails containing child pornography to a fourth related defendant, Caleb Cumberland, 31, of Tarlton, Ohio. Cumberland pleaded guilty in May to distributing and receiving child pornography. The parties in his case are recommending a sentencing range of 72 to 96 months in prison.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the Franklin County ICAC Task Force, HSI, and Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Heather A. Hill and Jonathan J.C. Grey, who are prosecuting the case.

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