Man pleads guilty to explicit photo exchange

A 22-year-old Amherst Township man has pleaded guilty after being accused of exchanging sexually explicit photos with a then-12-year-old Coshocton County boy.

John Alferio, of 405 Berry Bridge Drive, pleaded guilty in Lorain County Common Pleas Court to one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance on Oct. 14. Another count was dismissed through a plea agreement, according to Alferio’s court docket.

He is set for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 10 before Common Pleas Court Judge James Miraldi.

Tim Jenkins, Miraldi’s bailiff, said Alferio can’t have a job anywhere that involves children.

Alferio was arrested Feb. 3, 2015, after the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office’s Detectives Bureau, in partnership with the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, executed a search warrant at his home.

An investigation into Alferio’s activities started after the Sheriff’s Office got a report which claimed a 12-year-old boy was exchanging sexually explicit photos with an Amherst Township resident who portrayed himself as a 14-year-old female.

After his arrest, Alferio was suspended as a student in the Lorain County Community College early childhood education program and fired from his teaching assistant position with Cascade Horizon Education Center in Elyria.

Alferio