A Maumee man charged federally with child exploitation and receiving and distributing child pornography has pleaded guilty to all charges as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Jeremy Dean Chesser, 42, a former Springfield Township firefighter and adoptive father of at least four children, changed his not-guilty pleas during a rearraignment Tuesday in U.S. District Court. According to the plea agreement, if his guilty plea is accepted, he is looking at 30 years in prison. The sentencing guideline is life in prison, which is not mandatory.
He was charged following his late August arrest during a search at his home in the 600 block of Midfield Drive. In its criminal complaint, the FBI said he described sexual contact with children and provided images during online communications with an undercover investigator.
According to the criminal complaint, an FBI “online certified employee” in Connecticut began chatting with Chesser using the Kik messaging app starting Aug. 7. Chesser identified himself as “Jay” from Michigan and said he had engaged in sexual activities with children as young as 2 years old, the court documents say.
In chats with the FBI source, Chesser described in graphic detail his sexual contact with children, provided pornographic images of several teenage girls, said he had solicited nude or pornographic images online from several others, and inquired about the availability of minor children, the complaint states.
Investigators subpoenaed Kik and then AT&T, to which Chesser’s internet address belonged, to identify him and his location.
During his arrest, the FBI said, Chesser admitted to having around 1,000 pornographic images on his phone, to having created pornographic images, and to having viewed such material for more than a decade.
A computer forensic examiner subsequently observed “hundreds, if not 1,000 images of what appeared to child pornography depicting sexually explicit conduct of minors,” the complaint said.
Chesser is also facing 19 child pornography and molestation charges from the state, to which pleaded not guilty on Jan. 18. This followed his indictment Dec. 27 by a Lucas County grand jury on 15 counts of second-degree pandering obscenity involving a minor, two counts of fourth-degree unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and single counts of second-degree endangering children and third-degree gross sexual imposition.
He remains held without bond in the Lucas County jail pursuant to the federal case. He’s due back in federal court Nov. 4 for sentencing.
His pretrial at Lucas County Common Pleas Court is scheduled July 11.
If convicted in common pleas court, he could not be sentenced to more than 30 years, and his state and federal sentences would run concurrently, U.S. District Court Judge James Knepp said.
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