Hamilton County prosecutors are asking a judge to send an Evendale man to prison for 7½ years after he pleaded guilty to charges tied to a child sexual abuse material investigation.

Rain Phoenix-Brown, 24, is scheduled to appear before Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Jody Luebbers on Thursday, Oct. 1, for sentencing. He pleaded guilty in September to three counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, charges related to child sexual abuse material, and one count of tampering with evidence. He had entered a not-guilty plea in March.

Prosecutors filed a sentencing memorandum asking Luebbers to impose the maximum on each conviction and run the terms consecutively: 18 months on each pandering count and 36 months for tampering, totaling 90 months, as first reported by WCPO.

Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Elyse Deters argued in the memorandum that community supervision would not protect the public. Prosecutors pointed to what they described as an overlap between Phoenix-Brown's sexual interests and his access to children through local employment and church work.

Phoenix-Brown worked at a stuffed-animal store at Kenwood Towne Centre where he regularly encountered children, according to prosecutors. He also worked as a musician for Catholic churches, and in June 2024 he applied for a babysitting program called Sittercity, writing that he wanted to work with children, according to a letter Evendale Police Sgt. Pete Faillace submitted to the court.

Evendale Police Chief Tim Holloway also wrote to the judge urging the maximum sentence. Holloway stated investigators found evidence in Phoenix-Brown's bedroom that demonstrated a sustained pattern of behavior.

"These facts cannot be separated from the risk analysis," Deters wrote in the memorandum, arguing Phoenix-Brown repeatedly placed himself near children.

Evendale police executed a search warrant at Phoenix-Brown's home in February, seizing his cellphone, iPad, laptop and other devices. Forensic examinations uncovered thousands of AI-generated and anime images depicting minors in sexual acts on his devices, according to court records. Prosecutors also said forensic evidence tied Phoenix-Brown to an encrypted online account containing 3,254 uploaded files with names consistent with known child sexual abuse material.

According to prosecutors, Phoenix-Brown deleted that account roughly seven minutes after speaking with law enforcement. He later wrote in a message that he had "wiped everything" from his phone, the memorandum states.

That destruction led to the tampering conviction.

Prosecutors noted Phoenix-Brown had previously been interviewed by the FBI regarding similar activity. The state argued that contact did not deter him and that he became more sophisticated in using encrypted platforms afterward.

Phoenix-Brown's defense has characterized him as a non-contact offender who has not personally committed a sexual offense against a child, according to the state's memorandum. A defense-commissioned assessment found him amenable to treatment, but prosecutors argued the assessment did not determine whether he could safely be supervised in the community. Prosecutors said treatment could take place in prison.

The Evendale Village Council was informed in March that police had arrested a 24-year-old resident on child pornography charges.

The sentencing outcome was not available at press time. Anyone with information related to child exploitation can contact the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.