Ohio Man Charged with Advertising Child Pornography

BOSTON - A Columbus, Ohio man has been arrested and charged for allegedly advertising hundreds of files depicting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the dark web.

Adam Burley, 42, was charged with one count of advertising child pornography in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The defendant will make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston on a later date.

According to the charging documents, since 2025, Burley has posted hundreds of messages sharing files depicting CSAM on the dark web. These files allegedly included CSAM depicting the sexual abuse of young children and toddlers. An initial onsite forensic preview of Burley's devices allegedly revealed thousands of images and videos files of child pornography. The majority of this content viewed during the forensic preview allegedly depicted children ranging in age from newborn infants to toddlers and included both lascivious posing as well as anal and vaginal rape content. It's is also alleged that there were also images and videos featuring decapitated children ranging from infants to toddlers

The charge of advertising child pornography provides for no less than 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jeff Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations in Columbus, Ohio and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm, of the Major Crimes Unit and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator is prosecuting the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.