Asheville man gets probation after child pornography guilty plea

Joseph David Ostler’s Buncombe County case ended with a probationary sentence after he pleaded guilty on May 11 to three counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a resolution that kept the Asheville man out of prison and closed a case that began with far broader allegations.

Ostler, 35, received two years of supervised probation, according to the court outcome reported in the case. The plea narrowed a prosecution that had once included 40 total counts, with two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and 38 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor filed in August 2022.

At that time, Asheville police said the investigation had been underway since September 2021 and started with cyber tips from the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Ostler turned himself in to the Buncombe County jail on Aug. 25, 2022, as the case moved into the local court system.

The final sentence reflects the way North Carolina’s structured sentencing system can handle felony cases. Third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is defined in state law as knowingly possessing material containing a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity, or material created or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexual activity. The offense is classified as a Class H felony, and state sentencing rules tie punishment to both the offense class and the defendant’s prior record level. North Carolina courts also note that community-based punishment can be an option in some felony cases.

That framework matters in Buncombe County because it explains how a defendant can plead guilty to a felony child-exploitation charge and still receive probation rather than an active prison sentence. In this case, the court accepted a plea to three third-degree counts and imposed supervised probation instead of incarceration.

The outcome closes one of the county’s more serious digital-exploitation prosecutions, even as similar cases continue to surface in Asheville and across Buncombe County. The underlying investigation involved digital evidence and a multi-agency pipeline that started with cyber tips and moved through local police, prosecutors and Buncombe County Superior Court.