Fairfield County man pleads guilty to receiving child pornography

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Lancaster man pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving child pornography.

Carson A. Bigham, 24, was originally arrested on federal charges in May 2025. In a bill of information filed in January 2026, Bigham is charged with receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents, law enforcement received two separate Cybertips from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) related to a Columbus man who was subsequently charged with federal child pornography crimes in March 2025, including exploitation of a minor. One report was from Kik messenger regarding the distribution of 13 child pornography files. The second report was from Sniffies LLC, a map-based hookup application for gay, bisexual and bicurious men.

As part of their investigation, devices were seized from the Columbus man. Law enforcement's forensic review of the devices revealed conversations between the Columbus man and Bigham. The conversations between the two men were sexual in nature and included discussions about engaging in sex with minors. Between August 2024 and May 2025, Bigham received child pornography, including files that depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts with adults.

Law enforcement officers learned that Bigham was at the time employed as a Columbus firefighter and photographs of Bigham match those sent to the Columbus man during their conversations.

Receiving child pornography is a federal crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jared Murphey, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit; Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin; other members of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force; and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Columbus Airport Group and Fairfield County Sheriff's Office announced the guilty plea offered today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and DOJ Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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