A Columbus man will spend 35 years in prison after admitting to sexually abusing a non-verbal child and creating video and photographic pornography of the abuse.
Christian Toms, 47, of the Northeast Side, was sentenced on May 26 to 20 years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson in Columbus for Toms’ previous guilty plea to charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and distribution and/or creation of child pornography.
According to court records, detectives with the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force became aware of Toms in December 2024 after investigating another person’s distribution of child pornography online. Toms was in communication with that person, court records say.
Detectives began investigating Toms and searched his home and electronic devices, which revealed more than 130 files of images and videos depicting the child nude or being sexually abused by Toms, court records state. The child involved had been diagnosed as having autism and was wholly non-verbal, records show.
A total of bout 700 images and videos of child pornography were found on Toms’ cellphone, court records state.
Between October 2024 and February 2025, court recortds state that Toms sent the sexual abuse materials he made to others online with whom he was in communication and who shared sexual interest in children.
Court records say online conversations between Toms and others included photographs that Toms shared of other minor boys in his residence and discussions of grooming a second victim.
One message Toms sent, according to court records, said it was “too bad [the second victim] is neuro typical.”
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Northeast Side man sentenced for sexual abuse of non-verbal child
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
