Another Lakewood Man Pleads Not Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

Another Lakewood man appeared in court to face child pornography charges on Tuesday.

Christopher Willard, 33 — one of the three Lakewood men  —pleaded not guilty in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to 21 charges related to child pornography.

The charges include pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor; minor in nude material or performance; and possession of criminal tools.

Judge Timohty McGinty set Willard’s bond at $250,000, cash or surety.

Willard pleaded guilty in 1999 to a number of charges, including pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor; pandering obscenity involving a minor and possessing criminal tools.

Two other Lakewood men, who were also indicted as part of a 10-month investigation into child pornography. Michael Liggett, 54, to 73 similar charges. Neal Rigo, 46, is scheduled for arraignment to Dec. 1.

All three men are all believed to have possessed and traded child pornography sometime between December 2010 through October 2011, according to Maria Russo, spokeswoman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason. 

They were indicted earlier this month as part of Operation Fall Clean Sweep, a 10-month investigation into child pornography by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Four juveniles were also indicted in the Fall Clean Sweep. 

For the Fall Clean Sweep operation, detectives identified IP addresses being used to trade and download child pornography pictures and videos — using new technology.

From December 2010 through October 2011, 46 law enforcement officers from 16 executed 36 search warrants on homes in 17 communities throughout Cuyahoga County.

Officers seized 1,501 items such as computers, CDs, DVDs, cell phones, flash drives, floppy disks, digital cameras, video gaming systems, VHS tapes, and weapons. Eighty-nine additional cases have been referred to 59 law enforcement agencies outside of Cuyahoga County, including one in Illinois.