SABINA, Ohio — A Sabina, Ohio man has been arrested after an FBI investigation of child pornography led investigators to his home, where they believe he was abusing a young boy, recording the abuse and disseminating the videos online.
According to an affidavit, 37-year-old Jeffrey Watson is connected to at least six different videos depicting a child being sexually abused. Details in the videos led the FBI to Watson's home, the affidavit says.
FBI officials searched the Syracuse, NY home of a man on Aug. 10, seizing his electronics. On a mobile phone, investigators found six different videos listed as "...personal/jeff" depicting the sexual abuse of a boy by an adult man. Metadata for the videos showed they were created between April and August.
In the videos, the man — later identified by investigators as Watson — could be partially seen. In addition, investigators could see a Cincinnati Bengals team flag in the background of one video; another video showed a late model red or burgundy Dodge Caravan with an Ohio license plate. Part of the plate number was visible in the video.
The FBI reached out to a caseworker for Clinton County Child Services in June. She was familiar with Watson and said he lived in a camper on his parents' property in Sabina.
Before the raid in Syracuse, the caseworker said Watson's mother reported her son came to her and said a child was being sexually abused by someone and, when she didn't believe him, provided video evidence, according to the affidavit. Watson texted the video to his mother, who gave the video to CCCS. After that, an FBI agent traveled to the CCCS offices and determined the video was child pornography.
The FBI compared Watson to the man seen in the videos found in Syracuse and determined they were the same man, the affidavit says. Investigators also observed open source maps of Watson's home, where they said they spotted a unique wooden fence and a trampoline that can be seen in a video depicting abuse.
Investigators also found that Watson previously owned a 2008 burgundy Dodge Caravan, registered to the property on which he still lived. The license plate and description for that vehicle matched the partial plate seen in a video seized in Syracuse.
WCPO attempted to contact Watson's family. His father approached crews and said he had nothing to stay.
Watson is currently on hold for federal officials in the Butler County jail. He faces a sexual exploitation of children charge.
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