Man Pleads Guilty to Coercing and Threatening Children into Producing Images of Child Sexual Abuse

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty today to coercing and threatening multiple minors into creating videos of themselves engaging in sexual activity.

According to court documents, Caleb Jordan, 22, of Mount Juliet, met three minors online through a video gaming platform. Jordan told the minors, who were between 11 and 14 years old, that people were coming to "get them" and threatened to kill or sexually assault their parents unless the minors created videos of themselves engaging in sexual activity. Jordan instructed them to perform and record specific sex acts and used these minors to create nearly 400 sexually explicit videos, some of which depict the minor victims crying or in visible distress. Jordan then attempted to sell the videos over an encrypted internet chatting application. Electronic devices seized from Jordan's home also contained more than 10,000 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Jordan pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12 and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee, and Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville made the announcement.

HSI Nashville is investigating the case with valuable assistance provided by HSI offices in Phoenix, Arizona, and Fort Myers, Florida.

Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Daughtrey for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.