U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a Jefferson County, Missouri man, who accessed child pornography for years, to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay $3,000 to a victim.
At least as far back as 2015, Jonathan R. Brown, 34, of Jefferson County near Festus, was using the dark web to download and view child pornography. In October 2018 and January 2019, Brown had child pornography on computers that were accessible via peer-to-peer file sharing programs. Investigators later seized electronics that contained child pornography.
Brown pleaded guilty in March to one count of receipt of child pornography.
The case stemmed from an FBI investigation into a dark website focused on the production, advertisement, and distribution of egregious child exploitation material. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, and the St. Charles County Police Department also investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
