Repeat Child Pornography Offender Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

MOBILE, AL - Jedidiah Allen, age 32, was sentenced on September 10 to 15 years in prison after entering guilty pleas to Distribution of Child Pornography and Access with Intent to View Child Pornography. Allen entered his guilty pleas on April 15, 2024.

According to court documents, Allen was distributing child pornography via a social media website and possessed child pornography on his phone on two different occasions. Law enforcement investigated Allen after receiving a tip from a social media platform. In August of 2022, Allen's phone was seized and examined. Law enforcement found 103 images of child pornography. There was a text message on the device in which Allen asked a female to take pictures of her young niece in the shower, and there were messages in which Allen described sexually abusing a minor child and taking a photograph of the abuse. Upon his arrest on March 14, 2024, Allen was again found to be in possession of child pornography on his phone. Allen was previously convicted of Possession of Obscene Materials Under 17 in the Circuit Court of Mobile County on March 2, 2020.

At sentencing, Chief Judge Beaverstock imposed a 180-month sentence of incarceration and a fifteen-year term of supervised release upon Allen's discharge from prison. During his term of supervised release, Allen will be subject to sex offender treatment, substance abuse testing and treatment as well has mental health treatment. Allen will be required to register as a sex offender and is to have no contact with minors. Allen was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution in $200 in special assessments.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kacey Chappelear prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc/publications-resources