Ohio man sentenced to 35 years in prison for sex crimes, taking photos of sleeping 9-year-old’s genitals

A registered sex offender in Ohio was sentenced in federal court to 35 years, or 420 months, in prison Thursday for sexually exploiting two minor children, ages 9 and 12, officials said.

Nicholas J. Veerkamp, 32, of Colerain Township, Ohio, was convicted following a jury trial in October 2022 of sexually exploiting the two minor victims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Ohio said.

The exploitation happened one year after Veerkamp was initially required to register as a sex offender following a conviction in 2016 for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. 

“This defendant has shown a consistent pattern of sexually abusing children,” said Kenneth L. Parker, a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “In his current federal case, Veerkamp creeped into the bedrooms of minor girls and took sexually explicit photos of them. There is no place in society for someone engaging in this conduct that’s so harmful to our children.”

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Senior U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett imposed the sentence Thursday.

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He was also convicted of being in possession of child pornography, including photos of the same two victims, the attorney’s office said.

According to court documents, Veerkamp kept photos of both children on his electronic devices, including photos taken of the 9-year-old’s genitals as she was sleeping.

Law enforcement officials found other images of minor females on his devices, the Southern District of Ohio attorney’s office said.

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In August 2017, Veerkamp sexually exploited the unidentified 12-year-old victim and took three images of the child, which he kept, the attorney’s office said.

Two months later, Veerkamp sexually exploited a 9-year-old child. He pulled the victim’s pants down while she was sleeping and used his other hand to take photos of her exposed genitals, according to the attorney’s office. 

He kept 19 images of the victim, the office said.

The U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI Cincinnati Division, Colerain Township police, and the Hamilton County sheriff’s office assisted in the investigation.

He will have a lifetime of supervised release once he leaves prison.