A Bowling Green man was charged in U.S. District Court in Toledo with allegedly possessing thousands of photos and videos depicting male child pornography – including several in which he allegedly threatened and coerced the minors to engage in explicit conduct while online.
Philip S. Butler was indicted Tuesday with three counts of sexual exploitation of children, and one count each of distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, a 2010 search of Mr. Butler’s Bowling Green residence as well as his parents’ home in Van Wert resulted in the seizure of computers, hard drives, and storage devices.
Thousands of images were discovered on the devices, of which about 5 percent were those in which Mr. Butler personally coerced the minor males into engaging in sex acts while online so he could record and share the videos, the affidavit stated.
If convicted on the exploitation charges, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison up to a maximum of 30 years for each count.