San Francisco Resident Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For Distribution Of Child Pornography

SAN FRANCISCO – Dale Jetton was sentenced today to serve 180 months (15 years) in federal prison for distribution of child pornography announced Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King.  Senior U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen handed down the sentence.

Jetton pleaded guilty on August 22, 2024, to one count of distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2). Jetton was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on August 29, 2023. According to the plea agreement, beginning in March 2023, Jetton began exchanging email messages with an individual who, unbeknownst to him, was an undercover law enforcement officer.  Jetton sent the undercover officer an invitation and link to a cloud service that Jetton boasted contained over 700+ megabytes of child exploitation materials.  The link included thirty-eight videos containing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Jetton, a registered sex offender, admitted he knew the visual depictions in these videos included prepubescent minors or minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including at least one video that depicted a minor being subjected to sexual bondage.

Jetton has been in custody since his arrest in 2023.  He will begin serving his prison term immediately.  In addition to the prison term, Judge Chen also ordered Jetton to serve 15 years of supervised release which will begin after his term of imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roland Chang and Sophia Cooper.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the San Francisco Police Department.