Skip to main content
Press Release

Former Jacksonville State University Professor Sentenced For Attempting To Receive Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Alabama

BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former assistant professor at Jacksonville State University to five years in prison for attempting to receive child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr. and Alabama Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander Jeremy Lett.

U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced JONATHAN MARK HERBERT, 39, of Jacksonville, and ordered him to serve 10 years of supervised probation following his five years in prison. Herbert also must register as a sex offender. Herbert pleaded guilty in January to one count of attempting to receive child pornography. U.S. Marshals took him into custody following today's hearing.

According to court documents, Herbert attempted to receive images of child pornography over the Internet in August 2012 from a 14-year-old girl, who turned out to be an undercover police officer. He also drove to a Birmingham shopping center where he planned to meet the 14-year-old for sex.

The Alabama Department of Public Safety's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and HSI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Montminy and Daniel Fortune prosecuted.


Updated March 19, 2015