Oak Harbor man pleads guilty to 38 child porn charges

PORT CLINTON — An Oak Harbor man recently pleaded guilty to more than 30 felony charges for previously possessing and downloading child pornography. At a court hearing on July 24, Thomas P. Johnson, 33, 8700 block of W. Genzman Road, pleaded guilty to 38 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, each a second-degree felony. As part of Johnson's plea, no charges appeared to have been amended or dismissed, and he is likely to be classified as a Tier 2 sex offender, which means he must verify his home and work addresses every six months for 25 years, according to court records. The maximum sentence Johnson faces on each count is 12 years, according to court records. Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. on Sept. 29. Background Johnson was first indicted by an Ottawa County grand jury in August 2024, with crimes having occurred on or about Dec. 18, 2023, where he helped "create, record, photograph, film, develop, reproduce or publish material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity," according to his indictment. The investigation into Johnson first began after Oak Harbor police Chief Eric Parker contacted the Ottawa County prosecutor's office's Major Crimes Unit regarding a possible child pornography case, according to the investigative report. Parker said that he had received information from Clyde police Detective Ryan Stacy that someone using an IP address linked to addresses in Sandusky and Ottawa counties downloaded and uploaded suspected "child sexual abuse material." The Ohio State Highway Patrol's computer crimes unit investigated the IP address and the files as well and described finding "pre-pubescent children" depicted in the files, the report states.