Former IT Professional Sentenced for Possessing and Attempting to Possess Child Sexual Abuse Material

TULSA, Okla. – A former IT Professional was sentenced today for possessing and attempting to obtain child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby sentenced Jonathan Tyler Gross, 37, of Mounds, for Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography. Gross was ordered to serve 123 months imprisonment, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Upon his release, he will also be required to register as a sex offender. Judge Shelby further ordered Gross to pay $3,000 in restitution and $10,000 fine.

In 2025, Gross worked as an IT professional, and his employer reported to law enforcement that he was fired for having child sexual abuse material on his work computer. The employer told agents they believe Gross was accessing encrypted chat rooms. Agents reviewed the devices provided and found several images and videos of children being sexually abused.

From at least November 2022 through his arrest in April 2025, Gross admitted to viewing and possessing images of children being sexually abused and having a sexual interest in children between the ages of 14 and 17. Some of the images found by agents showed children as young as five to seven years old being sexually exploited, including child erotica. The investigation further revealed that law enforcement received a CyberTip from an email provider that Gross was uploading child sexual abuse material to one of the twelve personal email accounts he had. The child sexual abuse material found was sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Child Victim Identification Program. They helped identify at least one known victim. A victim impact statement was provided to the court. Restitution paid by Gross will go directly to the child victim identified.

After being indicted in April 2025, a victim came forward. At 15-years-old, the minor victim worked for the Gross family as a housecleaner and babysitter. She reported meeting him through church. Court records show that Gross began grooming her in January 2016, messaging her late at night, and that he contacted her through different aliases on Snapchat. After reviewing Gross’s devices, agents discovered Gross created 22 alias Snapchat accounts from January 2016 through January 2019. During Gross’s plea, he admitted to knowingly engaging in Snapchat conversations with the 15-year-old and to persuading the minor victim to send him sexually explicit photos.   

Released on bond, Gross was taken into custody after pleading guilty in October. He will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The $10,000 fine that Gross was ordered to pay goes to the Crime Victims Fund to help provide resources to victims of federal crimes.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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 Justice.gov/PSC.