Preston Man Admits Distributing Child Sex Abuse Material

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOEL HUNTSMAN, also known as “Jay Huntsman, “Joel Feser,” and “Jay Blackburn”, 37, of Preston, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to a child exploitation offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2022, the Kik mobile messenger application submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) that a user, subsequently identified as Huntsman, had distributed child sex abuse images and videos to another Kik user.  On November 2, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a court-authorized search of Huntsman’s residence and seized multiple items, including two mobile phones.  Analysis of the seized phones revealed child sex abuse images and videos.

Huntsman was arrested on January 26, 2023.

Huntsman pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  A sentencing date is not scheduled.  He has been detained since his arrest.

This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Cummings and Nancy V, Gifford.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit https://report.cybertip.org/.