YOUNGSTOWN - A Campbell man is being sentenced to prison for what Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova described as an elaborate scheme to lure teenagers into drugs and sexual activity online.

"He was using an online persona acting as if he were a teenage girl in order to engage in conversations with other teenage girls," Kevin Day, Assistant Prosecutor with the Mahoning County Prosecutor's office said. "(He) used various means to gain their trust, and he used photographs of another underage girl as if he was that girl in order to facilitate those conversations," he said. 

After he gained their trust, he asked for explicit photos of the minors.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Krichbaum on Tuesday sentenced 50-year-old Gerald Hamilton to 15 to 19 years in a state prison.

Hamilton took full responsibility in court Tuesday and pleaded guilty back in August to seven felony charges for allegedly posing as a teenager online and using drugs to manipulate them.

"I'd like to apologize to the victims, let them know I completely apologize for their pain and suffering. I made some very, very poor decisions. It was completely out of my character and does not reflect the person that I am," Hamilton said. "I was the adult in this situation and I should have known better," he said. 

Investigators say Hamilton reached out to three minors on social media. 

Each of the victims was a minor.  Hamilton met one of them at a hotel.

"She described to me that she was forced to do a strip tease for the defendant," Day said. "She does not remember anything beyond that, she was a 14 year old female who had been provided illicit substances," he said. 

The investigation began in 2020 after a complaint was raised at a local school.

The scheme was described by Prosecutor DeGenova as "catfishing", which is when someone creates a fake online identity to trick or control others, often to steal money or blackmail them.

The Mahoning County Grand Jury handed up a 36-count secret indictment against Hamilton in June.

As part of a plea agreement, Hamilton pleaded guilty to corrupting another with drugs, two counts of endangering children, two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, identity fraud, and pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor.

As part of the sentence, Hamilton will have to register his address as a Tier Two sex offender and will serve five years on probation after completing his prison term.