Shelby man faces child porn charges

Alleged incidents occurred at Sandusky YMCA, Boy Scout camp

A Shelby man is facing federal charges after investigators say he took video of young boys in 2011.

A Shelby man is facing federal charges after investigators say he took video of young boys in 2011 while they changed at the Sandusky YMCA and at the Firelands Scout Reservation in Wakeman.

Thomas J. Close, 39, was indicted Jan. 3 on two counts of sexual exploitation of children and single counts of receipt and distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division.

According to an affidavit filed with the court in support of the charges, Homeland Security was made aware of the crimes in May 2018 after they were forwarded a lead on possible child pornography from the Cyber Crimes Center’s Child Exploitation Investigations Unit.

Homeland Security was forwarded videos and pictures the Cyber Crime Center believed were taken at the Sandusky YMCA, 2101 W. Perkins Ave., according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, the videos and pictures show the prepubescent boys apparently changing in the locker room after swimming.

Other videos show young boys changing at what appeared to be a residence and in a white cloth teepee that “could be located at a campground.”

Officials both with the Sandusky YMCA and the Boy Scouts of America verified some images appeared to have been made at their facilities, the filing said.

Due to all the videos and images seeming to revolve around swimming, Boy Scouts of America officials forwarded the investigators an incident report from June 23, 2017, in which Close, who was known around the camp as “Aqua Joe,” was involved, the affidavit said.

Authorities visited Close’s Shelby home and interviewed him. During the interview, Close gave an investigator permission to use the bathroom and the investigator was able to verify it looked very similar to the bathroom depicted in some of the images, the affidavit said.

When Close was confronted with the images, he said he recognized the victims by their faces and locations, but did not know all of their full names. He admitted to taking the pictures and videos and that he took pictures and videos from 2011 to 2018, the affidavit said.

According to the filing, a forensic search of Close’s laptop revealed “hundreds” of images and videos of prepubescent boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct.