SIDNEY — Charles Lee Frazier, 47, of Sidney, was sentenced in federal court to 27 years after soliciting women in the Philippines to send him sexually explicit photos of their children.

The minimum possible sentence for his most recent offense was 25 years in prison and the maximum was 50 years.

Frazier pleaded guilty in March 2021 to charges of attempting to produce child pornography between April and July 2019, when he sent money from a store in Sidney to the women to receive the photos. According to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of Ohio, “Frazier sent approximately $800 to one individual in exchange for nude images of a seven-year-old girl.”

Frazier used dating sites to reach out to connect with financially impoverished mothers, including one woman who said she needed money for food. After connecting with the mothers, Frazier re-directed their conversations to Skype, where he obtained the sexually explicit photos.

Examples of the kinds of images Frazier requested included “naked minor children engaging in sexual conduct with other children or with their mothers,” according to a second press release from the same source. Additionally, “he distributed child pornography to several women, as examples of what images he wanted them to create with their children, or with instructions to show the images to their children to convince them to engage in that behavior.”

Perhaps most disturbing, this release stated, was that Frazier “also had discussions about committing violent acts against children” like “killing infants during sexual assaults.”

He is currently in custody at the Butler County Jail awaiting transfer.

Prior to this activity, Frazier was already a convicted sex offender. In 2011, at approximately age 32, he was previously convicted in a federal court for receiving child pornography and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

An appeals court document describes this previous case in greater detail. In 2009, the FBI showed up at Frazier’s residence, finding that he had used a peer-to-peer (“P2P”) internet service to download and view 65 images of child pornography, “some involving pre-pubescent children and infants.” He pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography.

Around this time, the appeals document says, Frazier underwent “an extensive psychosexual evaluation,” which recommended he get inpatient help and that he not be allowed contact with minors,” and cited Frazier’s previous convictions in Michigan for “accosting, molesting, or otherwise annoying a child for immoral purposes, as well an Ohio importuning conviction.” The government noted that Frazier had already been through a sex-offender treatment program that was unsuccessful in rehabilitation.

Approximately eight years before his 2011 conviction, Frazier was required to complete sex offender counseling after committing a sex crime with a minor in Sidney, Ohio. However, he narrowly escaped being labeled a sex offender at that time through a plea deal.

Shelby County Court documents reveal Frazier had committed a previous child sex crime in 2003.

On or about July 15, 2003, Frazier, who resided at 305 South Main Street in Sidney, and was then 24 years old, solicited a 14-year-old boy to engage in sexual conduct with him.

He was indicted on Aug. 8, 2003, on one count of importuning, a fifth-degree felony. At that same time, he was also indicted on eight counts of contributing to the unruliness of a child, each being a first-degree misdemeanor. The events, which occurred on or about July 14 and 15, 2003, involved four minors, two females and two males.

Frazier initially pleaded not guilty, and a jury trial was scheduled on Nov. 17, 2003. However, before his case went to trial, Frazier changed his plea to guilty.

According to court documents, his attorney, Jonathan M. Richard, negotiated a plea agreement in which the state would dismiss the all counts of the second charge, with the plea agreement specifically avoiding labeling him as a sex-offender, with the notes stating: “Not a sexually oriented-offender.” The plea further specified a maximum sentence of one year in prison and $2,500 fine, and optionally up to three years of probation.

For importuning, Frazier was sentenced, on Jan. 6, 2004, to 30 days in jail, a $300 fine, completion of sex offender counseling at New Horizons, five years of probation, and all costs of prosecution.

Frazier came to Sidney with a history of sexual problems with children. A little over three years before his crime in Sidney, on or about Sept. 29, 2001, while residing in Wyoming, Michigan, Frazier, then age 22, engaged in activities that involved accosting, molesting, or otherwise annoying a child for immoral purposes for which he subsequently pleaded guilty.

During the 2013 appeal, Frazier asked the court to re-evaluate the initial sentence, seeking changes to loosen up his parole restrictions. He argued and sought to overturn some of the special conditions of his release, which he claimed were overly limiting. One such condition was that he “shall not possess or view pornography of any kind, adult or child,” including a restriction against viewing, listening, or possessing “anything sexually explicit or suggestive,” including “books, videos, magazines, computer files, images, and internet sites.” The court agreed with Frazier on this point, saying the word “suggestive” was overly restrictive. “We VACATE the conditions of supervised release imposed on Frazier only insofar as they restrict him from viewing, possessing, or reading ‘sexually suggestive’ material.”

On Sept. 2, 2021, the court also found Frazier to have violated his probation which began on Sept. 6, 2018. Court documents revealed that he lied to both his probation officer, his sex offender therapist, and group therapy members, so it was decided Frazier be remanded to prison and then to serve a lifetime of supervised release, and that this additional 24-month sentence be served in addition to his 300-month sentence.

According to these documents Frazier is to be transported to Federal Medical Center at Devons, Massachusetts, where he will “receive sex offender treatment and management programming,” but “if he cannot be designated immediately to that facility or, once said programming is complete, the Court would recommend that he be designated to the federal facility at either Milan, Michigan, or Elkton, Ohio, consistent with his security status.”