Man sentenced to 40 years for exchanging drugs to sexually abuse children

A man who prosecutors say “terrorized” rural communities in Scioto County was sentenced to 40 years in prison for a child sex trafficking operation.

Larry Dean Porter, 72, of Wheelersburg, Ohio, and 11 other family members and associates were arrested and indicted in 2020.

They were accused of using drug addictions to gain sexual access to children as well as coercing women for sex. Prosecutors said this had been happening for decades.

Law enforcement from Columbus received tips about possible abuse while conducting human trafficking training in Scioto County in 2018.

A citizen later gave police a book that contained numerous allegations of drug trafficking, violence, and intimidation by Porter, as well as innuendos of child sexual abuse.

Prosecutors said in court documents that victims' fear of Porter, as well as loyal associates, the remote location, and rumored connections to local law enforcement, made the investigation difficult.

Jackson County Sheriff's Office found an informant who had been victimized by Porter previously to get him to offer to pay for a young child.

After he agreed, Jackson County deputies arrested Porter in 2020 and called the FBI.

Federal law enforcement continued investigating, leading to the indictment of 11 others who have all been convicted.

Porter exchanged drugs obtained in Columbus and elsewhere to gain sexual access to the children of drug-addicted parents and guardians.

After Porter's arrest, his cousin discussed in jail calls with Porter their plans to potentially kill a witness they believed was a source for law enforcement.

Porter also instructed drug-addicted parents to sexually abuse children and recorded it to use as blackmail. He used other methods to force them to comply, such as duct taping and tying women to chairs, burning them with cigarettes, and firing guns by their ears.

Law enforcement found a memory card buried in the yard that contained child pornography created by Porter dating back to the early 2000s.

“Larry Dean Porter is a predator who manipulated and abused children and drug-addicted women in southern Ohio for many years. He used force, violence, and threats to coerce these vulnerable victims to engage in sex acts with him,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Though no sentence can undo the indescribable, despicable harm he caused, it is fitting that he will spend the rest of his life where he belongs – in a federal prison.”

Porter was sentenced to 480 months in prison. The maximum under the plea agreement he reached with prosecutors last year was 55 years. He was ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution to the victims.