(LOGAN, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today announced that 23 year-old Zachary Wisor of Athens was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for multiple criminal violations related to child pornography. The case was investigated by Athens City Police and the Hocking County Sheriff’s Department and was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit. Wisor pleaded guilty to 12 felony charges this morning in Hocking County Common Pleas Court.

“The sentence in this case is justified and makes the community a safer place,” said Attorney General Cordray.

While on probation in 2007 for a prior sex offense involving a minor, Wisor was found to be in possession of a laptop computer containing images of child pornography. A forensic sweep of the computer revealed evidence that Wisor had befriended minor boys online and enticed the boys to perform sexual acts.

In December 2008, Wisor was indicted by a Hocking County grand jury on 78 charges. In early January 2009, while under indictment, Wisor fled the state of Ohio with a minor boy. Wisor and the boy were apprehended on Jan. 22, 2009, by U.S. Marshals in Beaufort, S.C.

Wisor entered guilty pleas to 11 felony counts related to possessing and distributing child pornography and one additional count of failing to properly register as a sex offender under the terms of his prior conviction. Wisor received the agreed sentence of 20 years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Attorney General Cordray’s Special Prosecutions Unit is a division of the attorney general’s Criminal Justice Section. Since taking office in January 2009, Cordray has increased resources for the Special Prosecutions Unit. The Unit is composed of career prosecutors who, at the request of county prosecutors, prosecute serious felony crimes throughout Ohio. The unit may be appointed by the court to serve as a special prosecutor when the county prosecutor has a conflict of interest or may assist a county prosecutor when he requests additional resources.  Areas of focus include homicides, child sex offenses, white collar crime, and alleged wrongdoing by public officials.
 

Media Contacts: 

Ted Hart: (614) 728-4127
cell: (614) 743-2286
Holly Hollingsworth: (614) 644-0508
cell: (614) 353-7576