Kyle Trimacco, left, 19, of Struthers, makes a statement Tuesday to Judge Anthony D’Apolito in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court prior to being sentenced to three years in prison for pornography offenses involving a child.

YOUNGSTOWN — Judge Anthony D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said he was thinking about sending Kyle A. Trimacco, 19, of West Fifth Street in Struthers, to prison for more than the prosecution-recommended three years.

But the “mitigation” he heard and read about Trimacco’s past history of abuse and mental health issues brought him back to three years. The judge could have given Trimacco up to 7 1/2 years in prison after Trimacco pleaded guilty in February to five counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, fourth-degree felonies.

Caitlyn Andrews, county assistant prosecutor, said the offenses began in February 2023 when Trimacco started talking to a 10-year-old boy on the XBox gaming system. Trimacco and the boy started texting, “and through those conversations, things started to become sexual,” she said.

Trimacco then “manipulates this child and tells him if you send me naked photographs and videos, I will buy you gift cards on XBox,” Andrews said.

“Being a 10-year-old child, he moves forward with this,” she said. He sent images to Trimacco, who sent back a sexually oriented photo and video of himself. When Trimacco’s phone was recovered, they found child pornography on it,” Andrews said.

“As with other child pornography cases, child pornography is a business,” she said. “This defendant is the intended customer when it comes to that. Every single download, every single click, every single photo that he views, he feeds into that business.”

She said the pornography Trimacco viewed “shows children engaged in sexual acts with each other and with adults, so every single time he downloaded that photo, he is perpetuating that rape,” she said.

Trimacco’s offenses “go farther than most child pornography cases because he is making himself a creator of the child pornography. He took advantage of a 10-year-old who had no idea what he was doing,” Andrews said. “He just wanted gift cards. (Trimacco) took advantage of that child and him being naive, and he used that to force this child to create child pornography.”

The boy’s mother told the judge before sentencing that her son “is an amazing boy who is my whole world. As a mother, the most important thing I can do for my son is to love him, protect him and teach him.

“At 10 years old, my son loved to play his XBox, ride his bike,” she said. “Like any 10-year-old boy, my son was naive. He lived for the moment and was sheltered from the dangers of this world,” she said.

“Even at 10 years old, I would tuck him in. I would still make sure no monsters were hiding under his bed. Well, this past year has been an eye-opener for my son and I,” she said.

“I am devastated that my son was exposed to such evil of this world. His eyes should never have seen such things. His ears should never have heard such filth,” she said. “At 10 years old, he could not comprehend being the target of an adult male. This man took advantage of a child’s weakness.”

She said Trimacco made it clear that he “would not stop until he got what he wanted from my son,” she said. Her son now “realizes that the real monsters are not hiding under his bed, but the real monsters live among us.”

She said no amount of therapy will ever “erase the photos, texts and the conversations and the thoughts of what could have been from my mind,” she said. Her son’s phone is only allowed to receive and send calls that she approves, she said.

Mike Kivlighan, Trimacco’s attorney, said Trimacco referenced in the presentence investigation his “abusive, negligent upbringing” with “physical, emotional and sexual abuse as a child.” He was removed from his mother and stepfather’s house, and had “many admissions to Belmont Pines,” a behavioral health facility for juveniles.

He attempted suicide on many occasions and “has dealt with mental health issues his entire life,” Kivlighen said. He did better in high school after getting treatment and wanted to join the military but was denied because of records from Belmont Pines.

He was treated for major depressive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit disorder and bipolar disorder but he stopped taking his medications after being refused by the military, his lawyer said.

Kivlighen said Trimacco “sometimes wasn’t able to control his impulses.” He is back in treatment and on medications.

Trimacco apologized for his actions. He is a Tier II sex offender, meaning he will have to register with the sheriff in the county where he lives every six months for 25 years. The case was investigated by the Boardman Police Department.

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