COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former employee of Nationwide Children’s Hospital was sentenced to 210 months in prison on Tuesday for crimes involving child pornography.
Ryan Ramos, 38, of Columbus, received his sentence in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty in May 2024 to one count each of distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography.
Ramos, who worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital from 2018 to 2020 and later at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s ICU for burn trauma until 2023, was discovered to have possessed over 42,000 images and 8,500 videos of child sexual abuse material.
The investigation began in 2020 when FBI agents from the Brooklyn-Queens office uncovered Ramos’s involvement in a Signal app group dedicated to the exchange of child pornography. “Ramos shared hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse, including abuse of young boys and infants, to the chat group,” stated court documents.
Further probes revealed that in 2018, Ramos paid a known child sexual offender in New York City over $500 via PayPal in exchange for child pornography. His iPhone was found to contain more than 346,000 messages from Signal, Telegram, and other online platforms where he was actively involved in distributing, seeking, receiving, or discussing child pornography.
Over 700 victims were identified as part of this investigation, highlighting the extensive nature of Ramos’s criminal activities.
“This case underscores the critical need for vigilance and the robust response from law enforcement to protect our children,” said a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.