On December 29, 2020, United States District Court Chief Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Jackson Yaro Young, age 22, of Kalona, Iowa, to 300 months in prison for Production, Receipt, Possession, and Transfer of Child Pornography announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum.
Following his prison term, Young was ordered to serve ten years of supervised release and pay $600.00 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
The investigation of Young began in March 2019 when the Washington County, Iowa Probation Office received information that Young had been seen interacting with a minor in public.
At the time, Young was on probation for a sexual abuse conviction originating in Linn County. Following further investigation, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office seized two phones from Young.
Forensic review of the phones revealed images and videos of child pornography, as well as sexually explicit communication between Young and multiple minors. In communications retrieved from his phone, Young knowingly coerced his victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
Young acted with the purpose of creating pornographic content and visual depictions of such content, as well as storing the material. Photos and images, produced and collected by Young, were transported electronically through interstate commerce through cellphone usage, and Young knew his victims were under 18 years of age.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Washington County Sherriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.
Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.