Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine Thursday said three Geauga County men wanted in connection with two separate alleged child pornography possession and dissemination cases have been arrested.
A Geauga County grand jury indicted Matthew Logrande, Clayton McCoy, and David McKibben late yesterday afternoon. Warrants for their arrests were issued Thursday. 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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Three charged with pandering obscenity involving minor
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