U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark has sentenced Tracy Jenkins, a 59-year-old man from St. Louis, to 42 and one-half years in prison for producing child sexual abuse material involving at least eight victims. The sentencing took place on Wednesday.
Jenkins recorded his sexual abuse of five identified children, with three additional victims appearing in the recordings yet to be identified. Among the victims was a child as young as six years old when the abuse began, and another who was eleven. Jenkins started making these videos as early as 2013, and they have since circulated online.
Judge Clark described Jenkins as “a ravenous and insatiable sexual predator of the highest order,” highlighting Jenkins' extensive history of abusing his victims and producing nearly 1,200 hours of video documenting this abuse.
The FBI's Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit played a crucial role in halting Jenkins' crimes by identifying one victim whose image appeared online. This led them to contact the FBI office in St. Louis, where agents swiftly located Jenkins. A court-approved search of his home uncovered multiple electronic devices containing thousands of files with child pornography, including about 200 videos produced by Jenkins depicting his abuse.
In June, Jenkins pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to charges including production of child pornography and being a felon in possession of a firearm after investigators found a stolen pistol during their search.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case following an investigation conducted by the FBI.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project brings together federal, state, and local resources to locate offenders exploiting children via the Internet while also identifying and rescuing victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
