Former Cincinnati Children’s doctor accused of possessing over 150K images of child porn

By Emily Sanderson, Karin Johnson

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    CINCINNATI (WLWT) — A former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital doctor has been federally charged, accused of possessing over 150,000 images of child sexual abuse material.

Howard M. Saal, 73, of Cincinnati, appeared in federal court in Cincinnati Tuesday afternoon.

Saal was previously employed as a geneticist and dysmorphologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

The state medical board shows his medical license as being active.

WLWT reached out to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which responded with the following statement and said Saal is no longer an employee.

“The safety and care of children is at the core of what we do and who we are. We absolutely condemn the exploitation of children. We are cooperating fully with the authorities and Howard Saal is no longer employed with Cincinnati Children’s,” the statement reads.

According to the charging documents, the investigation began in February, when a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office detective working on the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force investigated a cyber tip regarding image searches for child pornography that originated from Saal’s IP address.

Documents state that the IP address performed a Bing Visual search four times by uploading an image containing apparent child pornography.

According to court documents, the cyber tip image depicted two naked females, approximately 10 years old, engaged in sexual conduct.

After executing a search warrant on June 12 on electronic devices found at Saal’s residence, the FBI said it identified more than 153,000 images and 470 videos of child sexual abuse material on his devices.

Investigators said some of the child pornography involves child victims as young as a newborn and is very graphic.

According to court documents, investigators spoke to Saal, and when asked if he possessed any child sexual abuse material, Saal responded, “I hope not,” allegedly saying that it bothers him, and that’s why he looks at it.

At this time, investigators say they have not located any evidence of child pornography involving patients or children associated with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“I am incredibly proud of the work of our Regional Electronics and Computer Investigations unit and their diligence in investigating this individual,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said. “We encourage anyone who thinks they may be a victim of Dr. Saal to contact our detectives. We will continue to seek out dangerous individuals and bring justice to victims’ families.”

The federal charges carry up to 20 years in prison each.

“The FBI and our partners will continue to fiercely investigate those who attempt to sexually exploit children,” stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola. “I want to thank the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this investigation and for their strong partnership. Law enforcement is always more effective when we work together to address crime issues impacting our community.”

Federal court filings indicate that federal prosecutors did not request Saal be detained, and the judge allowed him to be released on his own recognizance.

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