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Fairfield County Man Sentenced to 80 Months in Federal Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

Carson A. Bigham, 24, was sentenced on August 18, 2026, in an open federal case in Ohio.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 18, 2026, 1:08 p.m. ET
Developing · checked 1h ago

This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

We last searched for new coverage of this at Aug 18, 2026, 1:12 p.m. ET — checked 1h ago.

On August 18, 2026, 24-year-old Lancaster resident Carson A. Bigham was in federal court to 80 months in prison for receiving child pornography, according to official court documents from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio. U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson imposed the sentence in the case, which remains open and developing. Bigham, who was employed as a Columbus firefighter during the offenses, was originally arrested on federal charges in May 2025, charged in a bill of information in January 2026, and pleaded guilty in February. According to court documents, the investigation began with two Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a Columbus man charged in March 2025 with federal child pornography crimes. A forensic review of devices seized from that individual revealed sexual conversations with Bigham between August 2024 and May 2025 involving discussions of sex with minors. Court records state Bigham received files depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts with adults and solicited images of a fictitious female minor. Charges against the Columbus man remain allegations, and any accused individual is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II alongside representatives from Homeland Security Investigations Detroit, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration Columbus Airport Group, and the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Czerniejewski prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006.

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  1. Version 118 Aug 2026, 17:08current

    First published.

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