Bloomington man get 30 years in prison for child exploitation

A Bloomington man has received a 30-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to sexually exploiting a child.

Joshua Ray Vestal, 40, of Bloomington pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child for forcing a teen younger than 16 to engage in sexual conduct with him. Evidence in the case proved Vestal filmed the conduct with his cell phone.

Four days after the 2022 incident occurred, Vestal's girlfriend discovered a video and nude images of the child on Vestal’s phone. She identified Vestal and the child in the video.

She sent the images and video to her phone to preserve the evidence, then presented what she had found to Vestal.

When confronted, Vestal submerged her phone in a toilet, according to evidence presented in the case. Vestal reset his own cell phone and took out the SIM card in an attempt to erase the images.

But when the witness got a new phone, the video had transferred to the device. When presented with the video the next day, Bloomington Police Department officers arrested Vestal.

He pleaded guilty Nov. 13 in U.S. District court to sexual exploitation of a child. A second charge, possession of matter containing a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, was dismissed.

District Judge Matthew P. Brookman recommended two low-security prisons for Vestal, one in Elkton, Ohio, and one in Milan, Michigan.

Vestal must participate in substance abuse treatment, trauma-based mental health treatment, sex offender treatment and anger management classes while incarcerated.

He will be on supervised probation for life and must register as a sex offender.

Court records show that Vestal has served three stints in state prison since 2002 for robbery, burglary and being a violent felon in possession of a handgun.

“This defendant not only sexually abused a vulnerable child entrusted in his care, he then attempted to conceal his heinous acts by destroying the evidence,” Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in a news release.

“The serious sentence imposed in this case will ensure that children are protected from this predator."

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Joshua Ray Vestal sentenced to 30 years for child exploitation