Columbia man indicted on federal child porn charges

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was indicted by a federal grand jury for child pornography charges, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Ryan Edward Hine, 27, was charged with attempted enticement of a minor, three counts of attempted production of child pornography, two counts of advertising child pornography and receiving child pornography, according to the superseding indictment. Hine has been in federal custody since his arrest on a federal criminal complaint on Feb. 7, 2023.

According to the release, Hine began sending text messages to a 15-year-old girl in Mississippi in July 2018 and routinely traveled to meet with the child “to engage in sexual acts” and record the child. He allegedly advertised the videos to multiple buyers on “chat communication services” while posing as the child in 2020, the release states.   

In 2021, Hine allegedly sent the video to another victim to get them to send him videos, the release says. He allegedly paid for a video from two victims and tried to sell it. There were six child victims in total, the release says.