YOUNGSTOWN — Nicholas J. Marshall, 25, of Bainbridge Avenue in Austintown, was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty in April to 10 counts of pandering obscenities involving a minor. The charge means he possessed child pornography.

Each count is a fourth degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

Marshall was indicted on 25 counts after investigators received a tip from the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that someone living in the area of Bainbridge Drive had uploaded images and videos of nude children, some of them engaged in sex acts with adults.

Prosecutors say investigators with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force found thousands of pornographic images on electronic devices used by Marshall, and Marshall was arrested in September 2021. All of Marshall’s offenses took place in September 2021, according to his indictment.

The Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office asked Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to sentence Marshall to 10 years in prison and stated prosecutors will oppose granting Marshall an early release from prison.

Kevin Day, assistant county prosecutor, told the judge Marshall admitted he had been looking at child pornography since he was 12 years old. “He claims he has had a sex addiction,” Day said.

“I don’t think he understands how graphic the child pornography that was contained on his devices actually is,” Day said. The images depict “bondage rape” of children, Day said.

He said there are “gruesome, graphic images” and “countless images of child rape. This is not just photographs of naked people. This is the most vile and disgusting type of child pornography you can imagine,” Day said.

Anyone who gets sexual gratification from that, he added, is a “threat to the community.”

Brian Tareshawty, attorney for Marshall, said there are opportunities for people who are addicted to substances such as alcohol or drugs to be diverted to treatment. But when someone is “sick” with the kind of addiction Marshall has, “You put them in the penitentiary.”

Marshall has been in treatment since September.

When Marshall spoke to the judge, he said he has a daughter, 2, and he does not want to miss out on spending time with her.

“I guess that the longer I sit here, when I think that I’ve seen everything, I am surprised — in this case candidly disgusted — at what human beings can do,” the judge said.

He said he wishes the people who produced the images and videos involved could be punished “because there is no punishment great enough for what they’re doing.”