A former Bowling Green man has been sentenced for pandering.
Jean Manuel Mulero Rodriguez, 21, of Columbus, appeared Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
He pleaded guilty in March to two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or an impaired person, both second degree felonies.
Two additional counts of pandering were dismissed.
On Aug. 15, the Bowling Green Police Division received a report from the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children data system which detailed a report from Snapchat that had been sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a user account traced back to Rodriguez.
Twice on May 9, Rodriguez used his Snapchat account to send a video to another user of a male under the age of 18 performing sex and another video of two youths under the age of 18 performing sex.
“The facts are shocking,” said Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McDonald. “The conversations are shocking.”
He said such conduct by an adult shouldn’t be accepted in the community.
Her client had no juvenile criminal history and was participating in mental health counseling, said defense attorney Sara Roller.
Rodriguez was raised in Puerto Rico, lived there until he was 16, and immaturity and the culture shock of moving to the U.S. led to the offense, she said.
“He’s been very consciousness making sure he’s not having any contact with electronic devices,” Roller said.
She said Rodriguez would likely benefit from sex offender counseling, and asked for local jail time as that would relay the seriousness of the offense.
Rodriguez, who had an interpreter by his side, offered to comment.
The facts shared in the presentence investigation are disturbing and he was concerned how the defendant would behave in public and private in the future, Kuhlman said.
For each charge, he imposed a minimum sentence of four years in prison with a maximum sentence of six years due to the offenses fall within Reagan Toke’s Act guidelines.
The sentences will be served concurrently with a presumption Rodriguez will be released after four years.
Once released from prison, Rodriguez must register as a Tier II sex offender, which will require him to register every 180 days for 25 years.
