COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 46-year-old man formerly of Thornville was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 40 years in prison for sexually exploiting at least four minor victims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Shannon “Michael” McTighe was sentenced to 480 months, or 40 years, after pleading guilty in February to sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography, prosecutors said.
“McTighe committed horrific hands-on offenses against four young girls and amassed hundreds of thousands of videos and images of child sexual abuse,” U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II said in a statement. “Putting this defendant in federal prison for the next 40 years protects these victims from further abuse and online exploitation.”
Court documents show McTighe possessed roughly 300,000 images and videos of child pornography on his electronic devices, prosecutors said. Investigators found that some of the material had been newly created and depicted McTighe sexually abusing four minor victims to whom he had access, according to the release. The abuse of one victim began when she was 7 years old, prosecutors said.
FBI agents arrested McTighe in Canton on June 12, 2025. Agents recovered numerous digital media devices and three pairs of female juvenile underwear in a safe at his residence during the arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His cell phone search history included terms such as “underage,” “jailbait girls” and “extremely young,” prosecutors said.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sarah D. Morrison imposed the sentence. Gerace and Jason Cromartie, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cincinnati Division, announced the sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Czerniejewski represented the United States in the case.
Suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. attorney’s offices and the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the initiative coordinates federal, state and local resources to identify, apprehend and prosecute people who exploit children online and to identify and rescue victims.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
