Ex-convention chief going to prison

CINCINNATI — A federal judge Friday sentenced a former southwestern Ohio convention bureau director convicted on child pornography charges to 11 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott also ordered Robert Lambert, 64, to take part in the federal prison sex offender treatment program and to be on probation for eight years after his release. Lambert pleaded guilty last year to two federal charges related to sexual material depicting minors.

Lambert’s attorney had asked for the minimum five years, saying he is in “extremely poor health” and has a history of public service.

Lambert was fired from the Highland County Convention and Visitors Bureau after his 2016 arrest.

Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings is among those who wrote to Dlott on Lambert’s behalf, calling him probably his best friend. Hastings, a veteran standup comedian, praised Lambert, once also an aspiring comedian, for honesty, kindness and helping others.

“Do I think Bob is perfect? No. Who isn’t flawed?” Hastings wrote, saying Lambert had much to offer society instead of being “put away where his good deeds will be missed.”

But prosecutors said he photographed and filmed minor boys engaged in sex acts in his home.

“Lambert also possessed well over 1,000 images of child pornography he obtained online. He actively sought to participate in the child pornography world,” prosecutor Christy Muncy wrote to the court. “There is little doubt Lambert is troubled in a way his family and friends are unaware.”

Hillsboro is about 60 miles east of Cincinnati.