A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court for recording his sexual abuse of a seven-year-old victim and sharing a video of the abuse online.
Jeffrey A. Knight, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 23 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Knight to 15 years of supervised release following incarceration.
On Aug. 8, 2023, Knight pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography. Knight admitted that he used his iPhone to create an image and two video recordings of his sexual abuse of the child victim on Feb. 2, 2020. Knight then distributed one of those videos over the internet.
Knight also admitted that he sexually abused the child victim on multiple occasions until April 2022.
Knight has been involved in the trafficking and possession of child pornography since at least 2013. He routinely used messaging applications, such as Telegram, to send and receive child pornography from other individuals over the internet. He also paid money to join online groups that focused on the trafficking of child pornography and engaged in the trafficking of child pornography with other members of those online groups.
Knight uploaded hundreds of images and videos of child pornography to his online storage accounts, including Google and Dropbox, from 2013 until his arrest on Feb. 3, 2023. Knight was in possession of hundreds of images and videos of child pornography at the time of his arrest.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth W. Borgnino. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.
