Sentencing Postponed in Child Pornography Case

Sentencing has been postponed for a Strongsville man who pleaded guilty to 126 child pornography charges last month.

William Kraatz, 24, was supposed to be sentenced today for trading pornographic pictures and videos involving children, but he will instead go before a judge April 26, according to Maria Russo, spokeswoman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Authorities said that between December 2010 and June 2011, Kraatz traded child pornography over the Internet from his residence.

He was indicted in November as part of Operation Fall Clean Sweep, a 10-month investigation into child pornography by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Two other Strongsville men were among the 26 adults indicted in the November sweep. They are Andiry Prokhna, 21, and , 32, formerly of Webster Road, who was sentenced in February to three years in prison for 23 counts of possessing and sharing child pornography.

This was not Kraatz's first offense. He was sentenced last April to one year probation for his previous sex offense, but violated that probation in June and was re-sentenced to six months in prison. He was released last fall.

During a search at his home last June, authorities seized a computer, web cam, flash drives, cell phones, drug paraphernalia and multiple CD/DVDs.

Investigators identified 146 known or suspected child pornographic images or videos available for sharing.

On March 13, Kraatz plead guilty to 87 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, 38 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, and one count of possessing criminal tools.