A Columbiana County man was sentenced on Mar. 26 to more than twelve years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the receipt, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse materials.
Myrl M. Reynolds Jr., age 44, of Wellsville, Ohio, received a sentence of 151 months in prison from U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan. Reynolds pleaded guilty in December 2025 to receiving and distributing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possessing child pornography. He was also ordered to serve ten years of supervised release following his imprisonment and pay $13,000 in restitution.
According to court documents, Reynolds used a social media platform to trade images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children and engage in discussions about such abuse with others online. Some individuals he contacted were undercover federal agents. In one conversation with an undercover agent, Reynolds claimed he had sexually abused a ten-year-old minor and expressed interest in “younger/incest” pornography. The social media platform generated cyber tip reports after nearly seventy files were flagged as being trafficked by Reynolds.
Law enforcement seized electronic devices from Reynolds during a search warrant execution and found nearly five hundred images and videos containing child sexual abuse material, including content involving infants as well as the torture and rape of prepubescent children. Investigators also found evidence that he actively sought out children through the platform for discussions about his sexual fantasies.
The case was investigated by the FBI Youngstown Resident Agency and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer J. King for the Northern District of Ohio.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative aimed at combating child exploitation online led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country with support from federal, state, and local agencies.
