A 51-year-old Mansfield man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison after investigators say he trafficked child sexual abuse material online while communicating with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl. U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan handed down the 108-month sentence to Shane E. Westerfeld on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, court documents show Westerfeld was caught trafficking child sexual abuse material in February 2024 while chatting with the undercover law enforcement agent. As reported by Cleveland 19 News, Westerfeld pleaded guilty in May 2026 to receipt of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.
Search Warrant Turned Up Over 100 Files
A federal search warrant executed on Westerfeld's electronic devices revealed more than 100 computer files containing images and videos of child sexual abuse, the Department of Justice reports. Those files included depictions of children under age 12 and toddlers, per the same account.
Investigators also disclosed that Westerfeld had a prior criminal conviction in Canada for possessing child pornography, establishing a recurring international criminal history in the case. The FBI Mansfield Resident Agency led the investigation that resulted in his indictment, while the account does not identify the prosecutor.
Supervised Release and Restitution Ordered
Beyond the nine-year prison term, Judge Gaughan ordered Westerfeld to serve 10 years of supervised release once he is released from custody and to pay $11,000 in restitution to victims. The DOJ also describes Project Safe Childhood as a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to pool federal, state, and local resources against online child exploitation, according to the Department of Justice.
Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A sets a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for a first offense of receiving child sexual abuse material, Hoodline has reported. The law provides that statutory range for a first offense.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Northeast Ohio
The case is one of several federal CSAM prosecutions in Ohio. Hoodline previously reported a Streetsboro man's maximum sentence of 20 years for similar offenses.
The scale of the problem nationally is staggering. In 2025, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline received more than 21.3 million reports containing 61.8 million files of suspected child sexual abuse material and online exploitation, according to MissingKids.org. Anyone who suspects child exploitation can report it through CyberTipline.org or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
