North Baltimore man imprisoned for child porn

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A North Baltimore man who had more than 27,000 images of nude minors on his cell phone is going to prison.

Christopher Livingston, 42, appeared Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.

Kuhlman sentenced Livingston to a minimum prison term of 20 years.

He said the number of juveniles on which Livingston preyed couldn’t all be seated in a football stadium.

Livingston’s online searches were both illegal and violent in nature, Kuhlman said.

“Every person in this room can take that recitation of facts and understand it is pure evil,” he said.

Livingston was indicted in December for one count pandering obscenity involving a minor, a second-degree felony; nine counts pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, all second-degree felonies; two counts illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented materiel or performance, both fifth-degree felonies; and gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony.

He pleaded guilty to all charges on Feb. 14.

Kuhlman corrected the prison term he gave in February. The minimum time served would be 87 years and the maximum would be 91 years if he imposed the maximum sentences for the 13 charges to be served consecutively.

Joseph Wittenmyer read an impact statement on behalf of the victim of the GSI charge.

“This man Christopher has broken me,” Wittenmyer read.

She is glad she is finally standing up for herself and hopes Livingston gets the time he deserves and never has another chance of hurting another innocent child.

Wood County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Gross said the case against Livingston was built by the North Baltimore Police Department, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the prosecuting attorney’s investigators.

Gross said the victim of the GSI charge was 10 years old when in the summer of 2015 she attended a pool party at Livingston’s home.

The girl told investigators Livingston got into the pool with them and started to throw her in the water. She said he used his hand and cupped it between her legs to throw her.

He ignored several requests to stop and removed the ladder from the above-ground pool to prevent her from leaving, Gross said.

Livingston said in the pre-sentence investigation that the girl is lying and what happened is all in her head, she said.

“That is indicative of the predator he is, claiming that he doesn’t harm children,” Gross said.

The girl told the defendant’s wife and her family, but unfortunately nothing was done, she said. She told authorities a year later, Gross said.

The investigation began with a cyber tip of child porn images delivered to a person at Livingston’s address.

A search warrant was conducted Oct. 7, 2020, and his electronic equipment was seized, including numerous laptops and cell phones, Gross said.

Livingston’s personal cell phone had 27,781 photos of prepubescent boys and girls engaged in a sexual act and/or posed nude, and 5,897 videos of children in various stages of nudity and/or engaged in sexual acts with adults or other children.

They were able to identify 10,719 juveniles in the images and 1,440 in the videos, Gross said. That leaves thousands uncounted for, she said.

“This is an enormous problem in the United States and the defendant is part of that problem,” Gross said.

Victims were from Indiana, Georgia, Washington, Switzerland, Russia and Ukraine.

A web search history uncovered 57 searches all related to sexually explicit images of children, Gross said.

Not only was Livingston purchasing and downloading the images, he also was sharing them on Instagram and Kik messenger, she said, often with the message “isn’t this hot.”

Livingston has said he has been addicted to child porn since he was 18 and blamed the internet, Gross said.

She said she saw no remorse from Livingston and asked for a 20-year sentence.

“His version (in the pre-sentence investigation), I think was very transparent and he does take responsibility,” said defense attorney Christopher Zografides.

He has been very candid about his addiction, Zografides said.

“He knew it was wrong, and he couldn’t stop,” he said.

Livingston did blame others, but he is now taking full responsibility and he does have remorse, Zografides said.

He asked for 10 years with the opportunity for judicial release after five years.

Livingston, when given the opportunity to speak, apologized to everyone he hurt.

“I hope and pray you can forgive,” he said.

Kuhlman said there is a difference between admitting guilt and being remorseful.

This has been ongoing since Livingston was 18, and this is the first time he has been caught, Kuhlman said.

With a combination of consecutive and concurrent terms, he sentenced Livingston to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 24 years in prison, which includes four years for the local victim.

He will have mandatory five years of post-release control once he has served his sentence.

Livingston was transferred back to jail to await transport to an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction facility.

He also must register as a Tier II sex offender, which will require him to register every 180 days for 25 years.

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