Jessamine County Man Sentenced for Production of Child Pornography

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Wilmore, Ky., man, Jason Horton, 43, was sentenced on Monday, by U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, to 35 years in prison, for production of child pornography. 

According to his plea agreement, in October 2023, law enforcement received a tip that Horton, a previously convicted sex offender, was using online platforms to engage in the sexual exploitation of minors.  Law enforcement obtained search warrants for Horton’s residence and electronic devices.  On Horton’s phone, it was revealed that he engaged in online conversations with minors in which he solicited them to produce sexually explicit images.  Horton specifically admitted to engaging in an online relationship with a 16-year-old victim, conducted primarily via Snapchat, and persuading her to create sexually explicit images which were transmitted to him via the internet.

Horton also admitted that he was required to register as a sex offender at the time of this offense, due to a 2004 Kentucky conviction for rape and sodomy in the second degree.

Under federal law, Horton must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Upon Horton’s release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life. 

Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police; and Sheriff Mike Coyle, Madison County Sherriff’s Office, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by HIS, Kentucky State Police, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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