A Utah man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for coercion and solicitation of minors on the Internet
Salt Lake City – A Utah man has pleaded guilty to coercing and soliciting minors over the Internet across the United States
On Monday, 34-year-old Landon Jermaine of Woods Cross, Utah, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and parole for life after agreeing to a plea deal, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
The investigation began on November 26, 2018, when the Bentonville, Arkansas Police Department received a complaint from a parent that her 11-year-old daughter had explicit photos and videos of herself, according to court documents.
While reviewing the footage on the phone, the parent noted to Bentonville Police that the illicit images were also on the social media apps Snapchat, Periscope and Kik. The police found that the girl was not posting the banned photos, but found another account that was being used by someone identified as “Jermaine” at the time.
The child was interviewed but denied that her photos and videos were taken and claimed that she does not have a Kik account.
A forensic extraction was performed on the phone and revealed a Kik chat log created by the girl where she added Jermaine, according to court documents. Germaine has added several more accounts to the chat.
Analysis showed that Jermaine posted illicit images on Kink chat. The girl told the chat that she was about 15 years old.
Additional analysis of the phone showed that Jermaine had previously recorded photos and videos on Snapchat, according to court documents. In January of 2020, the mother discovered that the girl was once again communicating with Germain under a different username on Telegram, Snapchat, and Periscope.
According to court documents, the mother tried to talk to the chat through her daughter’s account, which made Jermaine suspicious. After chatting with Germaine, an unknown person removed the illegal videos from Periscope.
Bentonville police interviewed the girl, who was 12 years old at the time. During the interview, she admitted to uploading illegal videos and photos of herself on Periscope after a Telegram group showed her the app. Users have been asking her for the illicit photos and offering to send them money and gifts, according to court documents.
The girl told the police that she knew the main person, Jermaine, was from Salt Lake City, Utah, and they were participants in the Telegram and Periscope groups.
Another forensic extraction was performed on the girl’s phone, revealing that she and Jermaine had been in contact in 2019 via Telegram, according to court documents. The chat shows that Jermaine was maintaining a Telegram group and was soliciting illicit photos from the pre-teen girl, knowing she was underage.
An administrative subpoena linked Kik to the email address Germaine used to his account. Additional investigations linked the email to Jermaine’s phone number, social media, and possible address in Woods Cross, Utah.
Police also compared a selfie Germain sent of the girl to his driver’s license and believed the two were the same person.
After concluding that Jermaine was the suspect, investigators executed a search warrant on his home in May 2020, according to court documents. Jermaine is arrested without further issue.
During Miranda’s post-interview, Jermaine admitted to hooking up with the girl and taking part in receiving illicit photos from her. He also admitted it along with several other girls under the age of 18.
According to court documents, a forensic review revealed more than a hundred illicit photos and videos of minors in Jermaine’s possession.