Jason Charles Shouse Pleads Guilty In U.S. Federal Court

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on January 29, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, JASON CHARLES SHOUSE, a 36-year-old resident of Cascade County, pled guilty to sexual exploitation of children and penalties for registered sex offenders. Sentencing has been set for May 10, 2013. He is currently detained.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

In 1997, in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Montana, SHOUSE was pled to sexual intercourse without consent. In June of 1998, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with 18 years suspended. Due to that offense, SHOUSE was required to register as a sex offender.

In July 2012, the Cascade County Sheriff's Office received a report that photos which depicted child pornography were located on one of SHOUSE's old cell phones. The SD card from the old cell phone was seized and searched. Investigators located videos on the SD card which depict SHOUSE performing sexual acts which meet the federal definition of "sexually explicit conduct" on an approximately 2-year-old child. SHOUSE was identified on the videos and appeared to have filmed the videos himself in 2008.

SHOUSE faces possible penalties of a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison and could be sentenced to 50 years, a $250,000 fine, and lifetime supervision. In addition, SHOUSE faces an additional mandatory 10 year imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence, for penalties for registered sex offenders.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Cascade County Sheriff's Office, and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.