ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Hamilton County man indicted on child pornography charges is accused of recording nearly 100 videos of women and children playing in public parks or neighborhoods in the Anderson Township area.
Prosecutor Melissa Powers said in a release a grand jury indicted 30-year-old Eric Zachary Johnson on 30 counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor. The indictment comes after an investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office where deputies found more than 100 images categorized as child sexual abuse material on his phone.
Powers said the sheriff's office first received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children indicating Johnson might have an account online that stores child pornography. Deputies searched his cell phone, multiple computers and hard drives.
Of the dozens of images found on Johnson's phone, 42 were categorized as child exploitative material and 39 were screenshots of children's Instagram pages. Deputies also discovered nearly 100 videos of women and children playing in public. Powers said deputies still have not finished analyzing the multiple hard drives seized while executing their search warrant.
"This defendant was not only collecting gigabytes of child pornography, he was also out in public covertly recording children at play," Powers said in a release. "This is sickening and depraved, and it causes me to have grave concern that he might have been doing more than collecting files off the internet."
Anyone, especially in the Anderson Township area, who believes their child may have come into contact with Johnson is asked to contact the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office at 513-946-8338.
If convicted on all charges, Johnson faces a maximum of nearly 78 years in prison.
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