Wilmington man pleads guilty to child porn charges in Highland County

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A Wilmington man is slated to be sentenced next week after he entered an Alford plea of guilty to child pornography charges in Highland County Common Pleas Court.

Seth Parshall, 29, entered his plea last month to three counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth-degree felony, following several months of criminal proceedings.

As reported by The Times-Gazette, Parshall was indicted by a Highland County Grand Jury in June on eight counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, and three counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, a fourth-degree felony.

The type of plea Parshall entered in the case, an Alford plea, is distinguishable from a regular guilty plea in that it does not admit the criminal act and asserts innocence, but admits that the evidence would likely persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Although prison time is not mandatory in Parshall’s case, each charge can bring up to one year in prison, and if a prison sentence is imposed, the court can order the sentence on each separate charge to be served consecutively for a total of up to three years.

According to the plea document, Parshall will be a Tier-I registered sex offender.

As reported by The Times-Gazette, Parshall was charged after Google alerted local law enforcement to obscene content contained in files allegedly downloaded by Parshall in May 2014.

According to a bill of particulars filed in the case, Parshall allegedly visited a chat room on the internet at the time, and during Skype conversations expressed interest in images of young boys age 8 and up.

Parshall then allegedly downloaded multiple files he was sent, which contained images of young boys engaging in sexual activity, the bill stated.

Parshall admitted he downloaded the files to his Google Drive account, looked at the pictures, then deleted them the following day, according to the bill.

Parshall is represented by defense attorney Bruce Wallace of Mt. Orab. He will be sentenced on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m.

Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.

Seth Parshall, right, sits in court with defense attorney Bruce Wallace at a prior hearing in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
http://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/11/web1_parshall-court.jpgSeth Parshall, right, sits in court with defense attorney Bruce Wallace at a prior hearing in Highland County Common Pleas Court. David Wright | The Times-Gazette
Court docs: Parshall downloaded online files in 2014

By David Wright

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