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Madison County man sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually exploiting children

Donald Adams, 52, pleaded guilty in May 2023 to two counts of sexually exploiting a minor and two counts of distributing child pornography, according to authorities.
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MOUNT STERLING, Ohio — A Madison County man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for exploiting children online and sharing child sexual abuse material.

Donald Adams, 52, pleaded guilty in May 2023 to two counts of sexually exploiting a minor and two counts of distributing child pornography, according to the U.S. Southern District of Ohio.

Between May and September 2021, Adams exploited two teenage victims by using Snapchat and Google Duo to coerce them into sending him images and video of themselves, according to court documents. Adams also made the victims believe they were in a legitimate romantic relationship with him.

In September 2021, Adams sent an online undercover FBI agent videos of children ranging from 3 to 7 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

When Adams was arrested, authorities say they found more than 1,500 images and 2,000 videos of child sexual abuse material. Adams possessed images and videos of victims as young as infants and toddlers being sexually abused by adults.

As part of his sentence, Adams will pay restitution to the minor victims he directly exploited, and eight other victims identified in Adams’ abuse collection through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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