A former spokesman for the Columbus Division Of Police has pleaded guilty to charges related to using child pornography.
Former Columbus Sgt. Dean Worthington pleaded guilty Monday to pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.
The 52-year-old will have to register as a sex offender and could face penalties ranging from probation to nearly two decades in prison when he is sentenced January 10.
A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer.
Worthington resigned last month. He was relieved of duty in July after being indicted by a Franklin County grand jury.
Franklin County prosecutors have said the case started with a tip about an image uploaded to the social media site Tumblr. Investigators later found pornographic images of children on Worthington's cellphone.
Prosecutors have said there was no indication that Worthington created the images.
Worthington served as public information officer since September 2017, and had worked for the department for 22 years.
