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A Hubbard man has been sentenced to federal prison for engaging in online activities that involved child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
James Joseph Cataline, 47, was sentenced Friday to 23.5 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Barker, after pleading guilty in May to receipt of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, possession of child pornography and transferring obscene material to a minor.
Cataline also was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $5,000 toward the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, established in 2015 to provide justice for victims of trafficking. A restitution hearing will take place Dec. 10 in federal court in Cleveland.
According to court documents and evidence, from about December 2024 to November 2025, Cataline had a history of engaging with CSAM. Investigators also discovered that he was directly engaging with minors to solicit sexually oriented materials from them, including making video calls with them. Cataline shared explicit materials of himself with others who he believed were minors, but were in fact, undercover agents.
During a search warrant executed on his electronic devices, investigators found more than 120 images and videos on his laptop. Cataline's cellphones contained more than 2,400 CSAM files, including approximately 600 videos and 1,800 images. Several files involved prepubescent minors under the age of 12.
The investigation leading to the indictment was led by the FBI Youngstown Resident Agency, the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force and the Mentor Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Kane for the Northern District of Ohio led the prosecution.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative is led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the country and marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/PSC.
To report child exploitation, visit cybertipline.org, or call 1-800-843-5678, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.