Jacksonville man sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for distribution of child pornography

LITTLE ROCK—Jessie Michael Collins will spend 35 years in federal prison for distribution of child pornography. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, which was handed down today by United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky.
On January 23, 2024, Collins, 32, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of child pornography. Judge Rudofsky also sentenced Collins to a lifetime of supervised released. Collins, who had a pending state charge for possession of child pornography, was indicted on April 5, 2023, on two counts of distribution of child pornography. The maximum penalty Collins faced was not less than five years and not more than 20 years in prison on each count and a fine of $250,000. There is no parole in the federal system.

An investigation revealed that Collins used an online chat application to talk to others about sexually exploiting children. Through this online chat application, Collins would engage in conversations about sexually abusing children. He also would receive, view, and share sexually explicit photographs of children with other members in the group. At one point, Collins stated to an undercover agent that he had sexually abused a 12-year-old and, “Lol a 12yo ever since her I’ve wanted younger I know I can’t just go pick one up as hot as that would be[.]”
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant.