Leetonia man indicted on charges of child pornography

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a Leetonia resident in the Northern District this week on child pornography charges.
According to the report, Andrew Allen Meek, age 48, of Leetonia was charged on a two-count indictment with receipt and distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and possession of child pornography. According to the complaint filed in the matter, on February 25, 2020, federal agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s address in Leetonia and seized various digital items. The report states that during an investigation of these items, numerous depictions of child pornography were discovered.
The case was investigated by the Youngstown office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Sullivan.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio also indicted two other northeast Ohio residents on child pornography charges as well, however, the cases are not related.
Matthew Barlow, age 38, of Akron was indicted on two counts of transportation of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, one count of sexual exploitation of children, and one count of possession of child pornography. According to the criminal complaint filed in this case, from February 2016 through April 2020, alleges that Barlow used an email account to receive and possess approximately 1,483 images of child pornography, which contained visual depictions of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Furthermore, the affidavit states that some of the images may have depicted a minor that had previously lived with Barlow. Barlow is a registered sex offender in the State of Ohio.
The case was investigated by SA Benjamin Shaw, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Cleveland Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carol M. Skutnik.
David M. Schade, age 33, of Cleveland was charged on a three-count indictment with sexual exploitation of a minor, receiving visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and possession of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the matter, from March through April 2020, alleges that the defendant used the social media platform Snapchat to coerce a minor into engaging in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing and transmitting child pornography. During a federal search warrant of the defendant’s residence, investigators discovered numerous devices containing images of child pornography.
The case was investigated by Investigator David Frattare of the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Department of Homeland Investigations, Cleveland Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carol M. Skutnik.