Child abuse: American prof who admitted being into “babies” jailed 18 years

A California university professor who told an undercover agent he was into “babies” has been sentenced to more than 18 years in prison for attempted child exploitation crimes.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement released on Friday, June 24, that Rodger Githens, 48, of West Sacramento, was sentenced to 222 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release.

He was also ordered to pay a $75,000 fine. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Githens was convicted by a federal judge on May 1 after a stipulated bench trial for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and for distributing and receiving child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, in March 2023 Githens initiated contact with a Grindr account operated by an undercover agent.

He urged the agent to move the conversation to Telegram, which he described as more secure.

Prosecutors said Githens told the agent he had “taboo thoughts every day” and was into “babies.”

He also stated that he “would love to have a dad or uncle invite me” and then described in graphic detail what he would like to do with the agent and the agent’s fictional 7-year-old niece. He discussed traveling to meet the agent and the fictional child on several occasions.

On April 19, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Githens’s residence and seized multiple electronic devices.

Agents found numerous Telegram chats on his phone, including several in which he was exchanging videos of the sexual abuse of young children.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Fresno resident agency with assistance from the West Sacramento Police Department.

It was prosecuted by Trial Attorney McKenzie Hightower of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa of the Eastern District of California.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant for the Eastern District of California, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Tosh of the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office.

The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Justice Department initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.