A Jefferson County man has been sentenced to 200 years in prison after pleading guilty to new crimes involving child sexual abuse. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey delivered the sentence on Monday, also ordering Jason Levi Meyrand, 31, to pay $6,000 in restitution to his victims.
Meyrand admitted guilt in August to four counts of production of child pornography. According to court documents, he sexually abused two children in 2022 and shared images of the abuse through a group on the social media application Kik that was dedicated to child sexual abuse material. The investigation began when a detective with the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force observed a post by Meyrand in January 2023.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang told the court that Meyrand’s criminal acts occurred about six months after he completed a state sentence for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. In 2014, Meyrand was convicted in Bates County, Missouri for child molestation and endangering the welfare of a child.
The FBI, the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang prosecuted it.
"This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc," according to the press release.
