Ohio sex offender sentenced to 15 years for sharing child pornography on Kik

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A registered sex offender was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for sending and receiving images of child sexual abuse.

Joshua Green, 42, of Belmont County, will undergo sex offender treatment in federal prison after being convicted of another sex crime, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced. He came under investigation in September 2021 after sending sexually explicit images of himself to an FBI agent he believed was a 12-year-old girl.

"Repeat offenders who have shown that they remain a threat to the children around them must be kept away from society for a significant period of time," US District Attorney Kenneth Parker said in a press release.

According to the criminal complaint, Green sent and received child pornography in Kik chatrooms, one of which the FBI agent entered as a purported 12-year-old girl. Upon learning the girl's age, Green messaged the FBI agent, sending multiple explicit images of himself with his face in view and asking the agent sexually explicit questions.

Green is a registered sex offender for a 2014 conviction of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and pandering obscenity involving a minor, and federal agents noted the photo on the registry showed the same man as in the Kik messages. Law enforcement connected the Kik account with an email address matching Green's name, according to the criminal complaint, and IP address logs Kik provided matched the address listed as Green's residence on his sex offender registration.

Investigators were able to connect Green to two Kik accounts that sent and received videos and images of child sexual abuse, including of a girl as young as five years old.

In February 2022, investigators interviewed Green at his house, where he recalled messaging who he believed was a 12-year-old girl. He admitted he sent similarly explicit images to other girls and acknowledged receiving multiple images of child pornography before consenting to a forensic search of his cell phone.

Following further investigation and tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Green was arrested by Belmont County Sheriff's deputies in June 2022 and admitted to viewing child pornography he downloaded from Kik. In December, he pleaded guilty to distributing and receiving child pornography, with the specification that he previously was convicted of sexually abusing a child.

Upon release, Green will be under court supervision for 20 years.