Clinton J. Johnson U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma
A former IT professional from Mounds, Oklahoma, was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for possessing and attempting to obtain child sexual abuse material. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Jonathan Tyler Gross, 37, received a sentence of 123 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release. Upon completion of his sentence, he will be required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby also ordered Gross to pay $3,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.
Gross had been employed as an IT professional until his employer discovered child sexual abuse material on his work computer and reported the finding to law enforcement authorities. Investigators found several images and videos depicting children being sexually abused on devices provided by the employer.
Between November 2022 and April 2025, Gross admitted to viewing and possessing images of children being sexually abused and acknowledged having a sexual interest in minors aged between 14 and 17. Some of the material found included images of children as young as five years old being exploited. Law enforcement received a CyberTip from an email provider indicating that Gross uploaded illegal content to one of twelve personal email accounts he maintained.
The child sexual abuse material discovered during the investigation was sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Child Victim Identification Program, which helped identify at least one known victim. A victim impact statement was submitted to the court, with restitution paid by Gross directed toward the identified child victim.
After Gross was indicted in April 2025, a minor victim came forward stating she met him through church at age 15 while working for his family as a housecleaner and babysitter. According to court records, Gross began grooming her in January 2016 using late-night messages and contacting her through multiple aliases on Snapchat. Agents determined that from January 2016 through January 2019, Gross created twenty-two alias Snapchat accounts used for communication with the minor victim. During his plea hearing, he admitted persuading her to send sexually explicit photos.
Gross pleaded guilty in October while released on bond but has since been taken into custody pending transfer to federal prison facilities. The $10,000 fine imposed will be directed toward the Crime Victims Fund supporting victims of federal crimes.
The FBI led the investigation into this case while Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert prosecuted it.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood—a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child exploitation online through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies.
