Federal child sexual abuse material sentence puts 51-year-old Mansfield man away for nine years

Shane E. Westerfeld — a 51-year-old Mansfield man whose name his neighbors will now know — was sentenced September 17 to nine years in federal prison for child sexual abuse material offenses, plus another decade under federal supervision once he is released.

U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan imposed the 108-month sentence in the Northern District of Ohio and ordered Westerfeld to pay $11,000 in restitution to victims.

What he did

In February 2024, Westerfeld was trafficking child sexual abuse material on an online platform and messaging someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl — in fact an undercover agent. When investigators searched his devices, they found he had knowingly received more than 100 files depicting the sexual abuse of children, including several of prepubescent children under 12, some of them toddlers.

He pleaded guilty in May to receipt of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography. He also had a prior conviction in Canada for possessing child pornography.

What nine years means

Westerfeld will serve the sentence with no possibility of parole. Federal inmates who earn the maximum good conduct time typically serve about 85 percent of their sentence — for Westerfeld, roughly seven and a half years behind bars.

The receipt charge alone carries a five-year mandatory minimum and a 20-year maximum for a first offense, and Westerfeld's prior conviction in Canada, along with the ages of the children in the files, are the kinds of factors that raise those penalties substantially.

Who handled the case

The FBI's Mansfield Resident Agency led the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer J. King prosecuted the case.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio brought the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that marshals federal, state, and local resources to prosecute people who exploit children online and to identify and rescue victims.

After the prison door closes

When Westerfeld is released, his 10 years of supervised release will unfold in Richland County, monitored by a U.S. Probation Office officer. He must report to that officer and commit no new crimes.

Federal sex-offense supervision requires sex-offense-specific assessment and treatment, computer and internet restrictions where computers were used in the offense, and search conditions that allow probation or law enforcement to search based on reasonable suspicion.