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Man guilty in child porn case
Thursday, June 05, 2008
DAYTON — A West Milton man pleaded guilty Thursday, June 5, in U.S. District Court to one count of possession of child pornography.
Charles Franks, 34, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 4 by Judge Walter H. Rice.
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Franks admitted to knowingly possessing more than 600 still images and videos of minors, according to a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement,
Franks' collection included depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adults and other children, along with images of prepubescent children and images of sadistic and masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence, according to the statement of facts.
Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Franks in October 2006 as part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative.
Franks faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to 20 years imprisonment due to a prior conviction for gross sexual imposition in Wood County, Ohio in 1998, according to the office of the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Franks was previously found guilty of engaging in sexual contact with a child under the age of 13.
The possession of child pornography charge carries additional penalties including a fine of up to $250 thousand, at least five years to a lifetime on supervised release, and Franks will be required to register as a sexual offender upon his release from prison anywhere he resides.
Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,000 nationwide and more than 115 in Ohio.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hot line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hot line is staffed around the clock by investigators.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2057 or lgrieco@DaytonDailyNews.com.
