Marion man charged with child pornography set for $250,000 bail

A Marion County grand jury indicted a man for uploading nearly 3,500 pornographic images of women under the age of 18.

According to online court records, a grand jury convened on March 8 and indicted John A. Vitello, 38, of Marion, on four counts of procuring indecency involving a minor, which is a second-degree felony. When Vitello first appeared in court on March 3, Municipal Court Judge Marion Teresa L. Ballinger set his bail at $250,000.

Vitello is currently being held at the multi-district correctional center in Marion.

Vitello’s preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 10.

On March 10, Vitello was to have a preliminary hearing in the city court. However, that hearing was canceled as his case was referred to the Marion County Court of Common Pleas.

Online court records show that Vitello is assisted by attorney Zach Mayo of the Brian Jones Law Office in Delaware.

Mark Weaver, assistant prosecutor, will handle the case of Marion County Attorney Ray Grogan.

The Marion Police Department said in a March 2 press release that Vitello was arrested on March 1 on suspicion of pandering obscenity involving a minor. Marion Police Department Chief Jay McDonald said the Ohio Task Force on Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) had informed Marion police of crimes that Vitello may have committed.

Investigators from the Ohio Children’s Internet Crimes Task Force said in a sworn letter filed by Det. Mike Diem of the Marion Police Department reported that Vitello uploaded 3,483 “images and/or videos”, some of which showed “underage and underage girls in a state of nudity” and “underage girls engaging in sexual acts.”

The tweet below confirms the news:

John A. Vitello, 38, Marion, was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of pandering for indecency involving a minor, a felony in the second degree, March 8.

— Star Marion (@TheMarionStar) March 12, 2023

McDonald said Marion police were “quick about” investigating the case because Mr. Vitello worked as an athletic coach at Galion City schools. Despite being close to the children, detectives found no evidence that Mr. Vitello was involved in anything wrong or illegal with the students. Investigators found out that Vitello works for Avita Health System.

MacDonald said, “These are very serious crimes with very severe penalties.” “Our federal law enforcement agencies and other partners are always on the lookout for people who create, sell or view child pornography online.

The people who committed this heinous crime will be caught and brought to justice. I am grateful to the Ohio Internet Crime Against Children Task Force and the Marion Police Department detectives for their excellent work on this case.

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The police are always looking to prosecute people who watch or film child pornography.

On March 1, the Galion City School District sent out a letter to parents and staff in the area to let them know what was going on. Jennifer Allerding, superintendent of the Galion City Schools, said that Vitello had been with the district as a “contract worker” for five years, but that he “would no longer be in any way employed by the school district or have access to the Galion buildings or the event.”

Allerding confirmed the Marion Police Department’s statement that “detectives found no evidence that Mr. Vitello was involved in inappropriate or illegal activities involving students.”

Allerding wrote in the letter: “There is no evidence that Mr. Vitello had any images of Galion students that could be seen as exploiting children, nor is there any evidence that he had inappropriate contact with Galion students.” .

“However, he did save pictures from social media, and the Marion Police Department says at least one of those pictures was posted by Galion Tigers Athletics from a Galion sporting event.”

The Ohio Task Force on Internet Crimes Against Children is a group of city, county, state, and federal law enforcement officials from across Ohio. Their goal is to find, arrest and prosecute people who use the Internet to lure minors into sexual relations without their parents’ permission or to manufacture, distribute or solicit child pornography.

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