Strongsville Man Pleads Guilty to 80 Child Pornography Charges

A Strongsville man  on child pornography charges has pleaded guilty to 80 counts.

Robert Stein, 37, 19767 Tanbark Lane, pleaded guilty to 55 counts of Pandering Sexually Oriented Matter Involving a Minor (a second-degree felony), 24 counts of Illegal Use of a Minor in Nudity-Oriented Material or Performance (second-degree felony), and one count of Possessing Criminal Tools (fifth-degree felony) before 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 was originally indicted on 102 counts.

Stein, who is to be sentenced Sept. 20, faces up to 633 years in prison.

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.

The six-month Operation Lake Effect resulted in the indictments of 27 adults and charges against 3 juveniles. Operation Lake Effect targeted traders of child pornography across Ohio.

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.

Officers seized 1,821 items such as computers, CDs, cell phones, flash drives, digital cameras, and webcams. Thirty-four additional cases have been referred to 23 law enforcement agencies outside of Cuyahoga County, including one in Indiana.