Jason Daniel Ort, Child Pornography, Maryland 2021

A federal criminal complaint has been filed against US Air Force Lieutenant Jason Daniel Ort, 36, of Waldorf, Maryland, charging him with production and possession of child pornography.

The criminal complaint was filed on June 16, 2021, and unsealed on July 7, 2021, after Ort’s arrest and initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland. Ort is currently detained pending trial.

According to the criminal complaint, Ort was arrested in Syracuse, New York, on October 2, 2020, for unlawful surveillance after an adult complainant informed law enforcement that they noticed a small camera placed in their bedroom on October 1, 2020. The complainant located an SD card, which they removed from the camera and reviewed, and found video content allegedly depicting a minor female victim between the ages of five and eight years old using the restroom and showing Ort entering the bathroom and adjusting the camera.

On October 6, 2020, an Onondaga County Court Judge issued a warrant to search Ort’s personal laptop and SD card. The search revealed a video on the SD card that depicted a minor female victim between the ages of eight and ten years old undressing and showering. A forensic review of Ort’s laptop allegedly revealed hundreds of images of minor females in various sexual poses, child sexual abuse material, and several videos of child pornography depicting prepubescent children.

On November 16, 2020, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office and OSI executed a search warrant at Ort’s Waldorf, Maryland residence. During the execution of the search warrant, law enforcement allegedly recovered multiple devices, including two external hard drives and a laptop. A federal search warrant was subsequently executed on Ort’s seized devices. The affidavit alleges that law enforcement recovered several videos of minor victims recorded on a hidden bathroom camera as well as a compilation video comprised of adult females using the restroom.

If convicted, Ort faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years for production of child pornography as well as a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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