EVENDALE, Ohio — An Evendale man has been sentenced to several years in prison after he previously pleaded guilty in September to several charges in a child sexual abuse material investigation.
Rain Phoenix-Brown, 24, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years — the maximum sentence allowed by law — by Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Jody Luebbers after he pleaded guilty to three counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and one count of tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors previously argued for the maximum sentence, saying he posed an "extreme danger" to children. Prosecutors cited Phoenix-Brown's sexual fixation involving diapers and diaper-aged children, photographs of students from a local parochial school, a job at a children's stuffed-animal store, work as a church musician and an application to work as a babysitter.
WATCH: Prosecutors cite Evendale man's diaper fixation, child access in push for prison
Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors filed a memorandum asking Luebbers to impose the maximum sentence on each conviction and run the terms consecutively.
The state argued community control would not adequately punish Phoenix-Brown or protect the public, pointing to what prosecutors describe as an overlap between his sexual interests and his access to children.
Prosecutors focus on diaper fixation
Investigators said Phoenix-Brown was wearing a diaper when he was arrested and that multiple photographs on his device showed him wearing diapers.
But prosecutors said their concern extended beyond Phoenix-Brown wearing them himself.
The sentencing memorandum describes online conversations in which Phoenix-Brown allegedly discussed diaper-aged children. In one Telegram exchange, prosecutors say he discussed using a website to find "diaper kids," made sexual comments about a child wearing a diaper and exchanged images of himself wearing diapers.
"These facts cannot be separated from the risk analysis," Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Elyse Deters wrote, arguing Phoenix-Brown repeatedly placed himself in settings that gave him proximity to children.
One of those places was Squishables, a stuffed-animal store at Kenwood Towne Centre, where prosecutors said Phoenix-Brown worked and regularly encountered children.
The memorandum describes an online message in which Phoenix-Brown allegedly said seeing a child wearing a diaper inside the store sexually aroused him.
Evendale police raised similar concerns in letters submitted to the judge.
Sgt. Pete Faillace, the lead investigator, wrote that Phoenix-Brown's employment at Squishables "put him in permanent vicinity of his conduct."
Faillace also said Phoenix-Brown worked as a musician for Catholic churches and applied in June 2024 for a program called "Sittercity." According to the officer's letter, Phoenix-Brown wrote in the application that he wanted to work with children and referenced younger cousins and other children he had babysat.
Faillace wrote that the combination made him fearful "for the children in our community."
Evendale Police Chief Tim Holloway also asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence. His letter said investigators found "multiple stacks of diapers" in Phoenix-Brown's bedroom and argued the evidence demonstrated a sustained pattern of behavior.
Investigators found photos of local students
Investigators also found Phoenix-Brown possessed photographs of real children with a local connection.
As WCPO previously reported, court records show investigators discovered numerous photos of students from a verified local parochial school while examining Phoenix-Brown's devices.
WATCH: Man pleads guilty after investigation finds photos of local students, sexual abuse material
The memorandum identifies the school as St. Susanna grade school and states that Phoenix-Brown possessed the students' photos through access to his mother's phone.
"The number of concerned parent phone calls that the undersigned prosecutor has received from this case's conception cannot be overstated," Deters wrote.
The images themselves were not described as child sex abuse material in the court records. However, investigators cited their presence as part of the evidence uncovered during the broader CSAM investigation.
Court records do not indicate whether Phoenix-Brown personally knew the students pictured.
Thousands of files and deleted evidence
Investigators found conversations on Telegram and Discord in which Phoenix-Brown allegedly requested sexual material involving children.
A February search of his Evendale home led police to seize his cellphone, iPad, laptop and other electronics.
Forensic examinations uncovered thousands of images depicting AI-generated minors or anime characters engaged in sexual acts, according to court records. Investigators also found numerous photographs of real children, including students from a verified local parochial school.
The new sentencing memorandum details another collection investigators say was larger.
Prosecutors said forensic evidence tied Phoenix-Brown to an encrypted MEGA account containing 3,254 uploaded files. Investigators said filenames associated with the account were consistent with known child sex abuse material.
However, investigators couldn't recover the full contents.
According to prosecutors, Phoenix-Brown deleted the account about seven minutes after speaking with law enforcement and later wrote in a Telegram message that he had "wiped everything" from his phone.
"The limited amount of illegal content law enforcement was ultimately able to recover should not operate as mitigation when the Defendant himself made the rest unavailable," Deters wrote.
The destruction of digital evidence resulted in Phoenix-Brown's tampering conviction.
Prosecutors said Phoenix-Brown had previously been interviewed by the FBI regarding child sex abuse material-related activity.
The state argues the previous law enforcement contact did not deter him and instead contends Phoenix-Brown became more sophisticated in using encrypted platforms and erasing evidence. Prosecutors cite that history in arguing he should not be supervised in the community.
Defense points to treatment
The state's memorandum also outlines mitigation arguments from Phoenix-Brown's defense, including significant childhood trauma and mental health treatment.
The defense characterized Phoenix-Brown as a "non-contact offender" who has not personally perpetrated a sexual offense against a minor, according to prosecutors.
A defense-commissioned assessment also found Phoenix-Brown was "amenable to treatment" and a suitable candidate for the A.W.A.R.E. program.
Prosecutors argue the assessment did not recommend probation or determine whether Phoenix-Brown could safely be supervised in the community. The state said the assessment identified issues including compulsive and hypersexual behavior, impulsivity, difficulty controlling sexual behavior and a need for relapse prevention.
Prosecutors argue treatment can take place in prison.
Phoenix-Brown's guilty plea also resolved the possibility of additional charges. As WCPO previously reported, his attorney said prosecutors had brought a "series of other charges" to the defense's attention. Under the agreement, Phoenix-Brown pleaded guilty to the four existing charges while prosecutors agreed not to pursue additional tampering and related charges through the grand jury.
