Willard man pleads guilty in federal court for child porn, firearm charges

TOLEDO — A Willard man recently pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing and sending child pornography and illegally possessing a firearm. According to a news release from the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio, Ricardo Gibson pleaded guilty to two federal charges. • Receipt and distribution of child pornography, or child sexual abuse materials • Felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; He has a previous conviction for the same offense in 2002. Based on court documents and evidence, the Gibson investigation started in May 2023 after federal agents looked into a report by an online seller about a man buying her children's used clothing and later sending provocative images of prepubescent girls via chat, the release states. Due to the information received, agents identified Gibson as the man who was sending the seller sexually explicit material of children. During a search warrant at his residence, agents located the following items: • Two cellphones • Two handguns • Three magazines holding 19 9mm rounds of ammunition • Little girl's clothing and adult sex toys A forensic analysis was done on his electronic devices, where they uncovered 6,448 child pornography files in his possession, the release states. Gibson is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 20 and faces a maximum prison sentence of 40 years for the child pornography and a maximum of 15 years for the illegal firearm possession. The case against Gibson was investigated by the Huron County Sheriff's Office, Willard police and the FBI Resident Agency in Toledo. It is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Attorney's Office to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.