Columbus, Ohio (WSYX) — A Columbus firefighter was arrested Wednesday afternoon on federal child pornography charges and appeared in federal court in Columbus today.
According to charging documents, Carson Bigham, 23, of Lancaster, is alleged to have possessed, distributed, or received child pornography. Law enforcement received two separate Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) related to a Columbus man charged with federal child pornography crimes in March, including exploitation of a minor.
One report was from Kik Messenger regarding the distribution of 13 child pornography files, while the second report came 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. A forensic review of these devices revealed conversations between the Columbus man and Bigham. In these conversations, Bigham allegedly used the screenname “daddy.”
The discussions were sexual in nature and included talks about engaging in sex with minors. Bigham also allegedly received child pornography during these discussions, including files depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts with adults.
Law enforcement officers learned that Bigham is employed as a Columbus firefighter, and photographs of Bigham matched those sent to the Columbus man during their conversations.
Bigham is currently being held in the Fairfield County Jail.
