Strongsville Man Gets Prison for Child Pornography

A Strongsville man  on child pornography charges has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Robert Stein, 37, 19767 Tanbark Lane, to 80 counts, including 55 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, 24 counts of illegal used of a minor in nudity-oriented material and one count of possessing criminal tools.

He was sentenced Wednesday afternoon by Common Pleas Judge Michael Astrab. 

Stein was among 27 adults indicted in Operation Lake Effect, a six-month investigation coordinated by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason targeting child pornography. 

According to Mason's office, Stein was living with his wife and two children, then ages 1 and 4, at the time of his arrest.

He was employed by a company that maintained security systems for school districts around the United States.

On Aug. 4, 2010, officers seized several computers and external hard drives from Stein's home, including his personal work area. 

On the computers, investigators discovered hundreds of videos and photographs of children as young as 5 engaged in sexual activity with adult men and women, including oral sex and vaginal and anal intercourse.

Stein was targeted for arrest on On July 23, 2010, when he made child pornographic videos available for sharing over the Internet using a file-sharing network, and disseminated child pornographic videos to an Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigator.

He will be classified as a Tier II sex offender, required to register his address and place of employment with the county sheriff's office where he resides every 180 days for the next 25 years, and will be prohibited from residing within 1,000 feet of any school.

Using new technology, detectives identified IP addresses being used to trade and download child pornography pictures and videos. From May 2010 through December 2010, 46 law enforcement officers from 17 law enforcement agencies executed 54 search warrants on homes in 22 communities throughout Cuyahoga County.