INDIANAPOLIS — A judge sentenced an Indianapolis man to 54.5 years in federal prison, followed by supervised release for the rest of his life, after he pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a toddler.
Joshua Sims, 38, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child sex abuse material and committing a sex offense while required to register as a sex offender.
Sims is also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to the victim.
According to court documents, between Feb. 23-March 7, 2023, Sims forced a toddler under 2 years old to engage in sexually explicit conduct and recorded himself sexually abusing the toddler. The U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Indiana says Sims forced someone to watch him sexually abuse the toddler.
Sims also sent videos and images of him sexually abusing the toddler to people on the internet.
When investigators arrested Sims, they recovered and accessed data stored on his smartphone, which had more than 5,000 photos and 300 videos of children being sexually abused and raped.
"Undeterred by multiple prison sentences, this pedophile subjected a toddler to horrific sexual abuse, and trafficked in recordings of children being sexually traumatized for his own sick gratification," said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. "We must do all we can to protect our children from sexual predators, including aggressive federal prosecution and imprisonment. Children are safer today, thanks to our partners at the U.S. Secret Service, IMPD, the outstanding Indiana ICAC Task Force, and our federal prosecutor, because this dangerous criminal will almost certainly spend the rest of his days behind federal prison walls."
On May 1, 2006, Sims was convicted of child molesting in DeKalb County and was sentenced to seven years in prison. As a result of his conviction, he was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
After he was released from prison, Sims failed to register as a sex offender over the next 12 years, which led to his conviction and jail time for failing to register as a sex offender on three separate occasions. Sims was convicted of several other felonies, including strangulation, battery and criminal confinement.
