TOLEDO, Ohio — The FBI’s Cleveland field office announced Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, the federal arrest of Leonard Paul Funk Jr., 45, of Brunswick, Ohio, in a child sexual exploitation case that the bureau says began in the Toledo area and reached Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Funk was arrested Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at his Brunswick residence and placed in federal custody without incident, according to the FBI. He made an initial appearance in federal court in Ohio the same day, and a federal complaint was unsealed.

According to the FBI, the conduct began in spring 2026, when Funk allegedly conversed and engaged in illicit behavior with a minor online. In September 2026, the FBI Pittsburgh Task Force, Allegheny County Police, and the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force learned of exchanges with additional minors.

The FBI said: “Funk’s conduct spanned from the Toledo, Ohio area to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” The Tiffin Police Department was among the participating agencies.

Funk is a registered Tier 1 Sex Offender with the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI said.

He is charged under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2), for allegedly receiving and distributing visual depictions of the sexual exploitation of minors; 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B), for allegedly transmitting, receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material; and 18 U.S.C. § 1470, for allegedly using telecommunications to transmit child sexual abuse material and other prohibited content.

The charges are allegations, and Funk is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

More information is available in the release from FBI Cleveland.

This is a separate case from the civil lawsuit against former Toledo pediatric urologist Dr. Bryan Shanley Sack reported earlier today. Read that report here: 13 Toledo families sue ex-Children’s Hospital doctor; lawsuit says he photographed patients

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