Attorney
Mike General DeWine
Three
Child Pornography Arrests in
Geauga County
(GEAUGA
COUNTY, Ohio) - Ohio
Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced the arrests of three men
wanted in
connection with two separate alleged child pornography possession and
dissemination cases.
A
Geauga County grand jury indicted
Matthew Logrande, Clayton McCoy, and David McKibben late yesterday
afternoon. Warrants
for their arrests
were issued today. Logrande
is the focus
of one investigation, while McKibben and McCoy, who are uncle and
nephew
respectively, are the focus of the second, unrelated case.
"All
three men are accused of
sharing pornographic photos of children online," said Ohio Attorney
General Mike DeWine. "We
cannot
allow this terrible behavior to go unchecked because crimes like this
can often
escalate, leading to even more children being victimized."
None
of the children in the seized
photographs are believed to be local children.
"We
appreciate the effort of
the Attorney General's Office and local law enforcement combined to
fight
people who prey on children," said Geauga County Prosecutor David
Joyce. "We will
continue to make
sure our community is safe from predators."
Agents
with Attorney General
DeWine's Crimes Against Children Unit conducted the investigations at
the
request of the Chester Township Police Department and Geauga County
Sheriff's
Office.
Through
an undercover
investigation, agents discovered alleged child pornography coming from
computers in Logrande's Hambden Township home, as well as the Chester
Township
home shared by McKibben and McCoy.
Search
warrants were executed at
both homes in April, where investigators confiscated several computers
and
other electronic media devices such as external hard drives and thumb
drives.
Investigators
said they uncovered
hundreds of child pornography images on Logrande's computer. Agents also said they
found hundreds of
similar images on both McKibben's and McCoy's property, although
investigators
said the uncle and nephew were unaware that they were both allegedly
participating in the same criminal activities.
"We
appreciate the assistance
of the Attorney General and his staff for helping us protect the people
of our
community," added Geauga County Sheriff Daniel McClelland.
All
three suspects are charged with
Pandering Obscenity Involving a Minor, Pandering Sexually Oriented
Matter
Involving a Minor, Illegal Use of a Minor in Nudity Oriented Material
or
Performance, and Possession of Criminal Tools.
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