Local attorney pleads guilty to child pornography crimes

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A local attorney pleaded guilty in federal court here today to receiving and possessing child pornography.

The plea agreement for Stephen Chinn, 40, of Columbus, includes a recommended sentence of 60 to 108 months in prison.

According to court documents, in May 2023, Chinn uploaded child pornography to the internet that depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct including sex acts with adults and animals. These uploads were flagged by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

When investigators executed a search warrant in August 2023 at Chinn's Grandview Heights residence, they discovered a desktop computer containing more than 4,000 child sexual abuse images.

In addition, a forensic analysis of Chinn's computer revealed he had downloaded and saved other child sexual abuse material in August 2023. The material included prepubescent children engaged in bestiality and sexual intercourse with adults, as well as minor victims subjected to sadistic and masochistic abuse. Forensic data revealed that much of this content was downloaded from a Russian social media site known to be used for the download and exchange of child sexual abuse material.

At the time, Chinn was employed as a public defender in Franklin County.

Chinn was initially arrested charged locally with Pandering Sexually Oriented Matter Involving a Minor and Pandering Obscenity. Chinn was released on bond in that matter. He was charged federally in September 2023, and the federal indictment superseded the charges in his local case.

The case was investigated by the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Angie M. Salazar, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Grandview Heights Police Chief Ryan Starns; Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin; and Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack announced the guilty plea entered today. Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Noah R. Litton are representing the United States in this case.

# # #