Westerville man who sextorted minors on social media pleads guilty to federal exploitation crimes

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Westerville man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to sextortion and exploitation crimes. The defendant met minors on platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, extorted them into making sexually explicit content and then used the sexual images to threaten the victims and create social media accounts of the victims.

Christian N. Davidson, 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of transmitting interstate communications with the intent to extort, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography.

The FBI opened an investigation into Davidson based on information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the Marysville, Worthington and East Liverpool police departments, the FBI's National Threat Operations Center and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

According to court documents, in 2024 and 2025, Davidson engaged in a sextortion campaign targeting multiple minor victims. Davidson threatened the victims, including threatening to expose sexually explicit images of the victims and threatening physical harm to victims and their family members. Additionally, Davidson actually posted some of the sexual content online.

For example, in August 2024, Davidson added a minor victim on TikTok. He told the minor he had information about her drinking and doing drugs that he would expose to her parents unless she participated in a video call with Davidson. During the call, Davidson took explicit screenshots of the victim. When the victim refused further demands from Davidson, Davidson created TikTok accounts using the victim's name and sexual images.

In another example, in 2018 and 2019, Davidson attempted to extort a victim for sexual content. Davidson added the individual on Snapchat and began sending threatening messages and saying that sending "leg pictures" to Davidson was the only way to make him stop. The victim blocked Davidson, but he would create new accounts and further harass her. The defendant began discussing intimate details of the victim's life, including her personal address and the death of her father.

When the victim told Davidson she had reported him to the police he said: "If you wanted me to leave you alone you would give me what I want…police can't do sh**. IP address isn't traceable. Hacked it dumb***. But just to let you know. You f***** up doing that…"

Davidson was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in October 2025.

Sexually exploiting a minor carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison up to 30 years in prison. Possessing child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and transmitting interstate communications with the intent to extort carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison. Davidson's plea agreement includes a recommended sentence of 25 to 40 years in prison. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.

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 U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is 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 the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

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