Cybertips alleging sexual abuse of a minor lead to arrest
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A northwest Columbus man has been arrested after six cybertips involving videos of sexual abuse of a minor were investigated last month.
According to court records, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received six tips, each linked to a common Dropbox user ID and email address, along with three IP addresses for a residence near Dublin.
Detectives investigated the material, discovered in March, and found files containing over 1,000 images and videos, including one involving an adult male sodomizing a 9-year-old boy.
On July 23, Google responded to a subpoena for subscriber information for the email account listed in the cybertips. On July 29, Charter Communications responded to a subpoena for IP addresses subscriber information. The results listed a phone number and address for Steven Sulainis.
That same day, Dropbox returned search warrant content that identified Sulainis in multiple videos of himself reportedly using drugs.
Court documents stated Sulainis’ vehicle was parked in front of his condominium or parking garage space at his address in the Tuttle West neighborhood, and on Aug. 12, a residential search warrant was signed by a Franklin County judge.
On Wednesday, Sulainis, 63, confirmed his email address, phone number, and Dropbox account to sheriff's deputies. The information matched that reported from the cybertips. Sulainis was interviewed, and after he was read a description of one of the files uncovered by authorities, he broke off the interview.
Sulainis, charged with two counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, was taken to the Franklin County Jail. He was issued a $500,000 bond in Municipal Court on Thursday and next scheduled to appear in court Aug. 22 for a preliminary hearing.