A Preston resident, Joel Huntsman, 37, also known as “Jay Huntsman,” “Joel Feser,” and “Jay Blackburn,” pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing child sex abuse material. The plea was entered before U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven, according to an announcement by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Court records show that in June 2022, the Kik mobile messenger app submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding a user later identified as Huntsman who had shared illegal images and videos with another Kik user. Following this tip, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a court-authorized search of Huntsman's home on November 2, 2022, seizing multiple items including two mobile phones that contained child sex abuse images and videos.
Huntsman was arrested on January 26, 2023. He has remained detained since his arrest.
He pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography. This charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of twenty years; sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Cummings and Nancy V. Gifford are prosecuting the case.
"This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation," stated officials in the release. "For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc."
"To report cases of child exploitation, please visit https://report.cybertip.org/."
