Cleveland man pleads guilty to 150+ child pornography counts, could face 1,205 years in prison

CLEVELAND - A Cleveland man pleaded guilty to more than 150 counts related to child pornography, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said.

Darin Casper, 49, will have to register as a tier III sexual offender for the long list of porn items that were found at his house. He pleaded guilty to five counts of gross sexual imposition, 18 counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, 131 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material and one count of possessing criminal tools.

“Darin Casper’s vile, unforgivable acts destroyed the innocence of countless young children,” Mason said, in a news release on Friday. “Our new technology, such as the ICAC Mobile Forensic Lab, will help in the fight to apprehend sick minded predators like Casper and put them behind bars where they belong.”

An investigation earlier this year of a Utah man, who was sharing child pornography, led authorities to Casper, Mason said.

In May, the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched Casper’s Baltic Road house and seized computers, CDs, cell phones, laptops, flash drivers and digital cameras. Mason said the materials contained about 1,500 child pornography images and videos. Some of the videos were even made at Casper’s house.

Months later, Casper was indicted again, this time on four counts of kidnapping. Authorities said 10 children were unknowingly videotaped and six children were touched by Casper when he took them to an Ohio camp ground.

He faces a maximum of 1,205 years in prison and will be sentenced on Oct. 16.