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Prosecutor's son sentenced to 30 years for recording sexually explicit videos of minors

U.S. Federal District Court in Cincinnati
Posted

HAMILTON, Ohio — Jason Gmoser was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday for producing child pornography; Gmoser is the son of Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, 43-year-old Gmoser used a webcam to record sexually explicit videos of himself and male minors while playing Playstation games.

Court documents say Gmoser was identified through an investigation by the FBI, after they learned he was an administrator of an online bulletin board "specializing in the advertisement and distribution of child pornography."

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Gmoser had over 900 video files that were recorded between November 2011 and September 2014 in folders called "Movies (PS3)" and "Movies (Skype)." One of those videos ran over 18 minutes in length and showed an 8-year-old boy and an 11-year-old-boy, officials said.

In addition to that, the U.S. Attorney's Office says Gmoser left the state to visit the 8-year-old's home on multiple occasions.

"While there, Gmoser took the boy to the movies, out to eat and purchased items for him and his family, including a Playstation," reads the press release.

Gmoser then recorded 448 sexually explicit videos of the boy from March 2013 through September 2014 through the gaming console; prosecutors say Gmoser offered the boy Playstation gift cards in exchange for the boy exposing himself.

In all, investigators seized 18 hard drives, three computers, two web cameras and multiple memory sticks and thumb drives.

Gmoser pleaded guilty to the charges he faced in December 2022. He'll serve the 30-year sentence concurrently with one handed down to him in Illinois in 2016.

Then, Gmoser was initially sentenced to life in prison, but he successfully appealed and his sentence was lessened to 30 years.

In that case, jurors in Urbana, Ill. convicted Gmoser after a court-authorized search of his home in October 2014 revealed he had millions of files depicting the sexual exploitation of children. Prosecutors said he operated via a members-only website that allowed him to post thousands of messages containing the images.

Prosecutors described the website as a "highly-sophisticated global enterprise." They say users employed advanced technology to evade law enforcement.

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