Gary Rocky Jones, 43, of Baltimore, was sentenced by a judge to life in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for the sexual exploitation of 16 minors.
According to prosecutors, two times between 2014 and 2015, Jones produced images and videos of a young boy - who was between the ages of 14 and 15 at the time - to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
Additionally, as detailed during the trial, from September 2018 through August 2020, Jones used social media accounts to persuade, entice, and coerce an additional 15 minor males, who were from several different states and ranged from eight to 17 years old, to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
During the online communications, officials say that Jones was able to convince the minors to produce livestreamed and recorded visual depictions of themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct, alone and with others, which were then sent to him.
In April 2018, prosecutors say that Jones then used social media to distribute the child sexual abuse material. He also was in possession of ld sexual abuse material, in connection with two separate email addresses and related storage accounts.
"The jury found that, based on the evidence presented at trial, between 2015 and 2020, Jones committed felony offenses involving minors while he was required to register as a sex offender under Maryland law," prosecutors concluded.
Already a twice-convicted sex offender, Jones was found guilty in September 2023 of 27 counts of sexually exploiting a child.
Additionally, Jones was convicted of 15 counts of using an interstate commerce facility — specifically the Internet — to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, commissioning a felony crime involving a minor by a registered sex offender, and distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
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