Former OhioHealth medical director pleads guilty to child pornography possession

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A former OhioHealth doctor pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography on Friday.

Garrett Norvell, 44, of Westerville, appeared in federal court Friday morning to address charges alleging he knowingly possessed child pornography in February 2022. This is a felony charge punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations conducted an international investigation in 2020 targeting offenders who use sites on the dark web dedicated to child sexual abuse and exploitation. In this, HSI Boston and the FBI obtained information from his IP address showing Norvell had an account in April of 2019 for a website that offered child pornography of girls as old as 14 and as young as 4, according to U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker.

Parker said in February 2022, HSI agents and the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant on Norvell's person at the Emergency Care Center at OhioHealth in Ashland, where Norvell was working as the medical director at the time of the investigation. Agents seized his electronics, and forensic analysis of the devices revealed at least 18 files of child pornography, including "Pre-Teen Hard Core" content, Parker said.

Norvell was removed from his position with OhioHealth less than a week after the search warrant. He had also previously worked as an emergency medicine physician, also with OhioHealth. A State Medical Board of Ohio investigation into Norvell was also launched, Parker said, and in March 2022 he permanently surrendered his medical license.

According to Parker, Norvell admitted he had an addiction to child pornography, which he said he had been watching since he was around 21 years old. Parker said Norvell disclosed the youngest victim he had viewed was an infant.

According to court documents, Norvell waived his right to prosecution by indictment, and instead was charged via bill of information. Norvell will be sentenced at a later date, which was not accessible at the time of publication.