Man gets 24 years for 2nd child-porn conviction
A judge gave a two-time loser on child pornography charges 24 years in prison because he worried the Buckeye Lake man would come out as “Sexual Predator 3.0” with a shorter incarceration.
“You showed no remorse, you’re oblivious to what you’ve done,” U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley told Joshua D. Chapman-Sexton.
Released from a halfway house in April 2014 after a prison stint for a childpornography conviction, Chapman-Sexton was trolling child pornography sites three months later, according the new charges against him.
“You went back to your old ways,” Marbley said.
A jury convicted ChapmanSexton, 31, of two counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing it on Feb. 9.
He also faced allegations that he molested two boys, one of whom was 13 years old when the alleged abused occurred in January 2016.
He was never charged with those acts, but federal law allows a judge to consider them at sentencing if the evidence shows they likely occurred.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather A. Hill said the testimony and cellphone texts between one of the boys and the defendant provided the “preponderance of evidence” that supported the enhanced sentencing range.
Hill requested the 24-year sentence. Defense attorney Tim Merkle sought 15 years.
Chapman-Sexton has denied having sex with either boy when he was a juvenile. However, he did say that he had sexual relations with the older one when the youth turned 18 years old.
That boy, who is now 20, testified for prosecutors at the trial that he and others broke into Chapman-Sexton’s apartment in February 2016. They stole liquor and a Playstation 4. Buckeye Lake police arrested him for underage drinking and he told them about the burglary.
When police examined a thumb drive in the Playstation, they found 700 downloads of child pornography. They later found more on his laptop.
Chapman-Sexton testified Friday that he had been living with the older boy’s family and that the boy kept sending him cellphone messages “I love you.” He said he replied with the same as a joke but later told him “That’s not kosher.”
Hill argued that the texts were further evidence of a romantic relationship.
Merkle told Marbley that 15 years could be enough to rehabilitate Chapman-Sexton. His previous sentence for child pornography was four years.
“What about 20 years?” Marbley asked Hill. She responded, “There may be no amount of time that will prevent him from doing these things again.”
Given the chance to speak, Chapman-Sexton said, “Prison changed me. I got a job and I was on my way to management,” he said of the restaurant where he worked.
“What you’re telling me goes to your work ethic. That is not an issue before the court,” Marbley said.
Molesting the 13-yearold boy was “just as inappropriate” as when Chapman-Sexton said he was molested as a child, Marbley said.
Sexual predator counseling didn’t take the first time around, so the judge ordered him sent to the Devens federal medical center in Massachusetts, “the highest level for sex offenders.”
Upon release, he’ll be on lifetime supervision and must register as a sexual predator wherever he lives and works for the rest of his life.
He also must pay $58,415 to any victim identified in the pornographic images. A payment schedule will be drawn up, the judge said.