Cincinnati man pleads guilty to sexually exploiting teenager and 7-year-old
Kyle Rist, 39, admitted to coercion and enticement and sexual exploitation of children in federal court.
2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 22, 2026, 10:14 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 22, 2026, 10:14 p.m. ETFirst report
Cincinnati man pleads guilty to sexually exploiting teenager and 7-year-old
CINCINNATI – Kyle Rist, 39, of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on August 21, 2026, to two child exploitation crimes involving online conduct with a teenager and in-person conduct with a 7-year-old, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Rist admitted to coercion and enticement and sexual exploitation of children and faces 15 to 30 years in prison. According to court documents, in September 2023, the grandparents of a teenaged victim alerted law enforcement in Oregon that their granddaughter had been sending and receiving sexually explicit videos of herself and of Rist through Facebook and SnapChat. Rist referred to himself as "daddy" to the victim and told the victim they were in a relationship. Rist, pretending to be another man by the name of Jeremy Hadley, had ongoing online discussions with the same teenage victim.
Between August and November 2024, Rist sexually exploited a 7-year-old child by creating videos and images of the victim engaging in and assisting another person in sexually explicit conduct.
Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the guilty plea entered before U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole. Assistant United States Attorney Danielle E. Margeaux and Kyle J. Healey are representing the United States in this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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- Version 123 Aug 2026, 02:22current
First published.
- Version 123 Aug 2026, 02:14current
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