Former OSU Wexner employee pleads guilty to child porn

A former Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center employee has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and paying a sex offender to create child sexual abuse material.

Ryan C. Ramos, 38, of Columbus’ Northwest Side, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Columbus to one count each of distributing and receiving child pornography as well as possessing child pornography.

Ramos, who according to the Ohio Board of Nursing is a registered nurse, worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital between 2018 and 2020 and then in the burn trauma intensive care unit at OSU Wexner Medical Center until 2023.

Federal court records show that in 2020, the FBI’S Brooklyn-queens office had been investigating a group that was using the messaging app Signal to exchange child pornography.

Ramos’s participation in the group was uncovered as part of that investigation. Ramos shared both images and videos — numbering in the hundreds — of child sexual abuse material involving young boys and infants, court records state.

Additional investigation found Ramos had paid more than $500 to a sexual offender who was located in New York City through Paypal for child pornographic material that the offender created. That exchange took place in 2018, according to court records.

An iphone belonging to Ramos that was seized by authorities found more than 345,000 messages on Signal, Telegram and other online messengers, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. In most of the messages, Ramos was either distributing, seeking, receiving or talking about child sexual abuse material, prosecutors said.

Ramos entered guilty pleas Tuesday in federal court through a bill of information.

He faces a potential sentence of between five and 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced.

Ramos is currently being held in custody until his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

bbruner@gannett.com