Central Ohio man pleads guilty to receiving child pornography

COLUMBUS, Ohio. — A Central Ohio man pleaded guilty Thursday to receiving child pornography. The plea follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Jason C. Grossman, 31, of Westerville, Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of receipt of child pornography, a crime punishable by at least five years and up to 20 years in prison.

According to the investigation, in December 2012, Grossman met a man online who claimed to be the father of prepubescent children. Grossman discussed the possibility of engaging in sexual activity with the man's daughter. Grossman was actually communicating with an undercover task force officer patrolling the Internet.

Grossman scheduled an in-person meeting for the planned sexual activity. When Grossman arrived for the meeting Jan. 9, task force officers arrested him. Officers then executed a search warrant at Grossman's home and seized computers and media storage devices. Forensic examinations revealed Grossman had downloaded approximately 49 images of child pornography from the Internet.

Grossman remains on house arrest until sentencing.

This investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.