Federal Grand Jury Indicts Indiana Man for Child Exploitation Offenses

Bowling Green, KY - A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned a three-count indictment on March 15, 2024, charging an Indiana man with sexually exploiting a child.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of the Homeland Security Investigations Nashville, and Sheriff Todd DeArmond of the Christian County Sheriff's Office made the announcement.

According to the indictment, Jason Webster, 29, of Lafayette, Indiana, was charged with online enticement of a minor, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, and receipt of child sexual abuse material. This conduct occurred between June 2023 through September 2023 in Todd County, Kentucky.

The defendant made an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky this week. The Court ordered the defendant detained pending trial. If convicted, Webster faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by the HSI Bowling Green Field Office and the Christian County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana, the HSI Hammond, Indiana, Field Office, the HSI Indianapolis, Indiana, Field Office, and the Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Sheriff's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Ann Dycus, of the U.S. Attorney's Paducah Branch Office, is prosecuting the case.

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 www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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