COLUMBUS, Ohio (AVC News) — A Newark man previously convicted of rape and sexual battery was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison Thursday for receiving and possessing child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Christopher McInturf, 56, was sentenced to 235 months in prison after pleading guilty to the federal charges in February.
According to court documents, the investigation began in February 2025 after the Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crime Center referred information indicating McInturf had used Cash App to pay for child sexual abuse material.
Investigators determined McInturf had communicated online with an individual he believed was located in Paraguay. McInturf typically paid the person $80 or $86 for bundles of child sexual abuse material, according to court documents.
In January 2025, McInturf sent a message requesting additional material, including material involving the sexual assault of minors.
Investigators later found child sexual abuse material involving prepubescent female victims on McInturf’s digital devices. One video was described in court documents as a 70-minute compilation depicting the sexual abuse of 55 children, approximately 2 to 10 years old.
Investigators also found an explicit photograph of a minor on a thumb drive. The victim had previously been identified in a case against McInturf in Licking County.
McInturf was convicted in Licking County in 2011 of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual battery. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in that case.
McInturf was federally charged in February 2025.
U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II and HSI Detroit Acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler J. Aagard represented the United States in the case.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse and to identify, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children online.
Last Updated on September 10, 2026 by AVC News
