Columbus Cell Phone Store Employee Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Abuse Material Crimes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Grove City man who worked at multiple cell phone stores in Columbus has pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material after investigators discovered illicit files on his devices and dozens of sexual images and videos taken from customers’ phones.

Neil R. Brown, 41, entered the guilty plea on August 27, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. in the Southern District of Ohio.

Brown admitted to receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material and to taking sexual or nude content from the phones of female customers while working in the cellular retail industry.

The federal investigation began after authorities received a cyber tipline report in January 2025.

Investigators subsequently examined Brown’s digital accounts and electronic devices and discovered more than 75 images and videos of child sexual abuse material on his cell phone.

The material included depictions involving prepubescent children approximately 7 to 9 years old.

Court documents state that Brown also used virtual currency through an application to pay for videos containing child sexual abuse material.

The investigation uncovered separate misconduct tied directly to Brown’s employment.

According to federal prosecutors, Brown worked for Cellular Sales and had access to customers’ phones as part of his job. Brown admitted that he searched through the phones of female customers for sexual or illicit photographs and videos and then captured that material using his own phone.

Federal agents recovered 59 sexual images and videos belonging to Cellular Sales customers that Brown had copied or photographed onto his device.

Brown was federally charged in December 2025.

His guilty plea resolves the federal charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

Under federal law, receipt of child pornography carries a prison sentence of five to 20 years. Possession of child pornography carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.

A sentencing date was not included in the information released by federal prosecutors.

The guilty plea was announced by Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Cincinnati Division; and Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin, along with members of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in the case.

The prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The program coordinates U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, federal investigators, state and local law enforcement, and Internet Crimes Against Children task forces to identify offenders, locate victims, and prosecute crimes involving the exploitation of children through digital technology.

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