Child porn suspect sentenced to jail, probation

PORT CLINTON — An Oak Harbor man who previously pleaded guilty to possessing nude images of a teenage girl after a doctor deemed him competent enough to stand trial has avoided prison time. At a court hearing on March 20, Kevin L. Edwards Jr., 23, of the 9000 block of W. Duff-Washa Road, was convicted on one count of an illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth-degree felony. Edwards pleaded guilty to the single charge on Jan. 15 in exchange for the dismissal of six additional charges, also fifth-degree felonies. Ottawa County Common Pleas Court Judge Bruce Winters sentenced Edwards to serve about a month and a half in the Ottawa County jail and to serve three years of probation. Edwards is additionally classified as a Tier 1 sex offender, which means that he must verify his home and work addresses every year for a period of 15 years, according to his sentencing sheet. Background The investigation into Edwards first began on Oct. 8, 2024, when an agent from the Ottawa County prosecutor's office's Major Crimes Unit spoke with a teenage girl who claimed that a man she was previously talking to was threatening to post explicit photos of her, according to a report from the prosecutor's office. The girl told investigators that she was informed by another girl that Edwards still had her nude photos and threatened to post them online to "ruin her life," the report states. Based on this information, law enforcement obtained a search warrant and responded to the address where Edwards worked to speak with him. Edwards told the agent that the girl knew he saved her photos and was upset when she learned she was dating a 33-year-old. When asked whether he threatened to send the photos, Edwards said he threatened to show the photos to the girl's boyfriend because he "did not think the age difference was right." On Oct. 15, agents found at least seven nude images of the girl on Edwards' phone, along with a message exchange with her mother asking him to delete the photos since her daughter was under 18, the report states.