Ohio man, 78, charged with sexually exploiting a toddler

On February 6, a federal grand jury in Ohio charged a 78-year-old Cincinnati man with sexually exploiting a toddler.  Thomas Winkelbach was charged with two counts of sexually exploiting children and one count of possessing child pornography.

According to the indictment, in or about 2014 to 2015, Winkelbach coerced a victim who was 1 to 2 years old at the time to engage in sexually explicit conduct and created pictures of the abuse.

Winkelbach allegedly created five pornographic photographs of the child.

During a search of his residence, authorities found dozens of hard drives and thousands of child pornography images. Investigators said that those child porn images and videos included pictures of children younger than 12.  Police also reported finding images of Winkelbach exposing himself to a toddler and having the girl handle his genitals.

Cincinatti.com reported that police were able to initially identify Winkelbach, “after an undercover agent was able to download child pornography in September from Winkelbach’s IP address.”  According to court papers, Winkelbach confessed that he’d been downloading child pornography for about five years but, “does not know why or how he started.”

In one of his videos, Winkelbach sexually violates a 2-year-old girl, court documents state. This incident occurred in 2014. ~ MSN

According to the FBI, sexually exploiting a child is a federal crime punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison. Possessing child pornography carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Winkelbach will remain in custody at the Butler County Jail while he awaits his trial.

(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio)

Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter