Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General | https://www.justice.gov/
Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General | https://www.justice.gov/
A Columbus man, previously convicted as a sex offender, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors. Anthony Sims, 56, was set to face trial on March 17 but entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court instead.
Sims admitted guilt to two counts of sexually exploiting a minor and one count of sex trafficking a minor. The plea agreement suggests a prison sentence ranging from 25 to 50 years.
Court documents reveal that Sims raped a 12-year-old girl multiple times over six months in 2020. He provided her with marijuana and alcohol and coerced her into posing for inappropriate photos. Another victim, aged 13, was similarly exploited after being convinced to smoke marijuana. Sims also took this victim to hotels where she was forced into commercial sex acts with numerous men.
At the time these offenses were committed, Sims was already registered as a sex offender due to previous convictions in Michigan.
The announcement of Sims' guilty plea came from Kelly A. Norris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge at the FBI's Cincinnati Division; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force; the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations; and Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant. Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Tyler J. Aagard are prosecuting the case.
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