Elyria Man Faces Child Porn Charges, Part Of National Operation

ELYRIA, OH — An Elyria has been accused of online child sex crimes as part of a sweeping, two-month national operation conducted by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The Department of Justice announced charges against 308 people accused of either producing child pornography or committing child sexual abuse. More than 350 children suffered sexual abuse as part of this productions, the DOJ said.

"These are cases with real victims, children whose lives will be forever changed because adults assaulted and violated them,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “We will continue to work to prosecute those who re-victimize these children by sharing and downloading these images.”

Eric Burrows, 59, of Elyria, has been accused of receiving, possessing and accessing with intent to view child pornography. The Department of Justice said Burrows knowingly received numerous computer files which had images of actual children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Court documents filed against Burrows say he obtained and viewed this pornography between Feb. 3, 2018 and April 16, 2018. The indictment also accuses Burrows of viewing pornography with a child that 12 or younger.

"The sexual abuse of children is repugnant, and it victimizes the most innocent and vulnerable of all," Attorney General William P. Barr said. "We must bring the full force of the law against sexual predators, and with the help of our Internet Crimes Against Children program, we will. Over the span of just two months, our ICAC task forces investigated more than 18,000 complaints of internet-related abuse and helped arrest 1,700 alleged abusers. I would like to thank our Office of Justice Programs, all of the task force members, and especially the state and local partners who helped us achieve these important results. We are committed to bringing the defendants in these cases to justice and protecting every American child."