Toledo Man to Spend 20 Years in Prison After Being Found Guilty of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Charges
TOLEDO, Ohio / Monday, February 9, 2026 – A 53-year-old Lucas County man who was convicted of child sexual abuse and exploitation charges has been sentenced to federal prison.
Derran Reebel, of Toledo, Ohio, has been sentenced to 240 months (20 years) in prison by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick, after federal juries convicted him of the following charges at two separate trials:
November 2024 trial:
- Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography
- Possession of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct
March 2025 trial:
- Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (Production)
- Coercion and Enticement
He was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release after imprisonment.
According to court documents, from Oct. 10-15, 2020, Reebel communicated with a minor, namely, an undercover agent purporting to be a 14-year-old girl, through a social media application. Evidence presented at the March 2025 trial included the sexually explicit communications that Reebel sent through the application's messaging function in repeated attempts by him to persuade the minor to send him sexually explicit photos and commit sexual acts.
At an earlier trial held in November 2024, Reebel was convicted of receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for nearly eight years, from about Jan. 1, 2014, through Aug. 17, 2022. During the execution of a federal search warrant at his residence, investigators found CSAM that included visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in his possession. Law enforcement officials also discovered that for years, Reebel was contacting minors and sending them sexually explicit messages and photos of himself through social media platforms.
This case was investigated by the FBI Toledo Resident Agency’s Violent Crimes Against Children Taskforce.
The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Sara Al-Sorghali and Frank H. Spryszak for the Northern District of Ohio.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative is led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country and marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/PSC.
To report child exploitation, please visit cybertipline.org, or call 1-800-843-5678, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Contact
Jessica Salas Novak
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio
