Elyria man gets 30 years in prison for grooming teen girls to send sexual images

An Elyria man was sentenced last week to 30 years in federal prison for grooming children to send him sexually explicit photos on Snapchat after pretending to own a modeling agency. Joshua R. Glover, 36, was sentenced Nov. 25 by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster. Glover pleaded guilty in July to receipt and distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and to possession of child sexual abuse material. Glover's prison sentence will be followed by 10 years supervised release, and he has to pay $2,000 into a monetary reserve for victims, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio said in a news release. His attorney, Fernando Mack, asked the judge to impose the minimum sentence of 2½ to 3 years in prison, according to court records. According to court documents, the FBI's Cleveland Division investigated the case after receiving a report in June 2023 that Glover was posing as the owner of "Mary J Studios," a modeling agency, and offering to pay girls for sexually explicit content. From January 2022 to January 2024, Glover contacted hundreds of girls 12 to 15 years old across the country on Snapchat, with a federal prosecutor writing that he was "relentless in his pursuit of young females" on the social media platform. Glover sent repeated requests for sexually explicit photos and videos to girls he wanted to lure to join his modeling agency, promising to pay them. He started 18,000 chats over two years and built relationships with victims "where he directed the type of sexual activity the minors engaged in and offered to meet with them in person to engage in sex," federal prosecutors said. Authorities found 100 child sexual abuse materia files on Glover's digital devices and online accounts, and he allegedly admitted receiving photos and videos from more than 90 children. Some of the images were of toddlers, according to federal court documents. Glover was arrested in November 2024, according to federal court records. "Glover's vile and despicable manipulation of underage girls has come to an end," U.S. Attorney David Toepfer said in the news release. "He will no longer commit these heinous and horrendous crimes against vulnerable children." In a sentencing memo filed with the court, Mack said Glover went on a "downward spiral" into depression following his father's death in 2021. A 2007 graduate of Elyria High School, Glover briefly attended Lorain County Community College then worked in manufacturing for 10 years. He had only a DUI on his criminal record, according to court documents. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.