Repeat ‘child predator’ sentenced to 15 years in prison

ERLANGER, Ky. (WXIX) - A 35-year-old convicted sex offender was sentenced to 15 years in prison for soliciting sex from children.

Roger Uhl, 35, pleaded guilty on June 5 to three felony counts of use of an electronic communications system to induce a minor to commit a sexual offense, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders.

According to a police affidavit, the investigation started in November 2020 when Homeland Security Investigations Northern Kentucky received a tip about a suspected “child predator.”

The suspect was later identified as Uhl, according to police. Uhl is a registered sex offender who moved from Florida to Kentucky, the registry shows.

The affidavit states Uhl was communicating with a 12-year-old over Playstation on the game called “Destiny.”

Police say Uhl talked to the boy using the voice chat feature.

Uhl asked about the boy’s “physical characteristics, if he was lonely and if he was allowed to have a girlfriend,” according to the affidavit.

The voice chat was overheard by the boy’s grandmother and father, police say.

The father also allegedly heard Uhl on the Playstation communicating with another female user, asking that user personal questions.

“When he’s talking to these children online, he can be anyone he wants to,” explained Asst. Commonwealth Attorney Emily J. Arnzen. “He doesn’t have to be a registered sex offender. He could identify himself as a child, which is what he was doing in these cases.”

The father told police he heard the female user tell him Uhl had sent pictures to her over Snapchat.

The father found a Snapchat user with the same name that Uhl used on Playstation and used the social media app’s location services to pinpoint the user to a home in Erlanger.

Homeland Security identified Uhl as the home’s inhabitant.

Police confronted Uhl at the home, where he admitted he had contacted children online and said there would be images of nude children on his cell phone.

After getting a search warrant for Uhl’s home, electronic equipment was confiscated and taken to KSP’s digital forensic laboratory.

“They seized his electronics, searched his electronics, and that led to the identification of additional victims, additional conversations that the defendant was having, not only on those games but also on other platforms like Snapchat, text messaging, Facebook, Instagram,” Arnzen said.

The 15-year sentence goes along with the recommended punishment from Arnzen.

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