Jackson Whitt, Attempted Production of Child Pornography, Arkansas 2024

LITTLE ROCK—A Russellville man was sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for attempted production of child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jonathan D. Ross.

Jackson Whitt, 29, of Russellville, was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for attempted production of child pornography. Judge James M. Moody, Jr. also sentenced Whitt to 10 years’ supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Whitt was indicted by a federal grand jury on 17 counts of attempted production of child pornography, five counts of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to attempted production of child pornography on February 6, 2025.

An investigation revealed that on January 18, 2024, a parent contacted local law enforcement stating that her high school daughter allowed her friend, whose phone was broken, to borrow her phone to log into her Instagram account. The mother stated that when the daughter received the phone back from her friend, she noticed the Instagram account was still open under her friend’s account. The mother stated both she and her daughter observed explicit and obscene messages between the friend and an adult male, later identified as Whitt, on the Instagram account.

Whitt had sent the minor victim numerous sexual images, videos, and messages. Whitt asked the minor victim to have phone sex with him and send him various photographs of her nude body parts. On January 25, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant for Whitt’s residence and seized multiple electronic evidence. Whitt’s cell phone contained approximately 150 different sexually explicit images of the minor victim and at least two videos.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Parents are encouraged to always monitor your children’s online activity.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with assistance from the Eufaula (Oklahoma) Police Department, Pope County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Arkansas State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristin Bryant and Shelby Shelton.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edar/pr/russellville-man-sentenced-175-years-federal-prison-attempted-production-child