Dayton Jones Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

PADUCAH, KY. – Dayton Jones, 27, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography before Senior United States District Judge Thomas B. Russell, earlier today, announced Acting United States Attorney Michael A. Bennett. 

According to the Plea Agreement, on October 11, 2014, a group of high school and college students got together at a friend's apartment.  The individuals, almost all of whom were under the age of 21, consumed significant amounts of alcohol.  A fifteen-year-old boy (John Doe), passed out from alcohol intoxication.  When John Doe passed out, several other males took turns sexually assaulting him with a sex toy. Jones made an audio/video recording of the assault.  He can be heard talking during the video.  Jones distributed the short video to others via the social media application “Snapchat.” 

An individual who viewed Jones’ snap of the sexual assault on a friend’s phone recorded it on his/her phone and shared the video and information with law enforcement.  The person who shared the information and video with law enforcement surrendered his/her phone for examination.  A forensic tool collected and saved the information from the person’s phone – including the video from Jones’ snap. Snapchat is a multimedia messaging application with worldwide use.  It allows users to exchange pictures and videos (called snaps) that are meant to disappear after they are viewed.  Billions of videos are sent each day.  Digital devices, such as cellular telephones, are used to create and send Snaps. 

Under the terms of the Plea Agreement entered into the Court’s record today, Jones faces a 10-year sentence and agreed to pay the victim, John Doe, $50,000.00 in restitution. Judge Russell will decide whether Jones should receive credit for the time spent in state custody as well as how long Jones will be under supervision after released. Sentencing is scheduled for February 9, 2022, at 11:30 a.m., CDT, in Paducah, Kentucky.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jo E. Lawless and Seth Hancock prosecuted the case.  The FBI's Louisville Field Office and the Christian County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. 

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This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."