COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Lancaster man has pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving child pornography, according to court records released Tuesday.
Carson A. Bigham, 24, entered the guilty plea after being charged through a bill of information filed in January 2026. Bigham was originally arrested on federal charges in May 2025.
According to court documents, the investigation began after law enforcement received two separate CyberTip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tips were connected to a Columbus man who was later charged in March 2025 with multiple federal child pornography offenses, including exploitation of a minor.
One CyberTip was submitted by the messaging application Kik and involved the distribution of 13 files containing child sexual abuse material. A second report came from Sniffies LLC, a map-based social networking application for gay, bisexual, and bicurious men.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized electronic devices from the Columbus man. A forensic review revealed sexual conversations between him and Bigham that included discussions about engaging in sexual activity with minors. Investigators determined that between August 2024 and May 2025, Bigham received child pornography files depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts with adults.
Authorities also learned that Bigham was employed as a Columbus firefighter at the time of the offenses. Photographs of Bigham were found to match images he allegedly sent during the conversations.
Receiving child pornography is a federal offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing has not yet been announced.
The guilty plea was announced by Dominick S. Gerace II, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, along with officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Columbus Airport Group, and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Czerniejewski.
The investigation was conducted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through coordinated federal, state, and local enforcement efforts.
