RAMONA, Calif.—A Ramona man who distributed child sexual-abuse material online while using a Florida resident’s stolen identity was sentenced this week to over 13 years in federal prison.
Jason Charles Nicholas, 54, was arrested in San Diego County last September following social-media conversations between Mr. Nicholas and an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was the parent of a child.
After Mr. Nicholas’s arrest, investigators searched his cell phone and found “that it contained at least 2,500 explicit videos, many of which depicted the sexual abuse of young children, infants, and toddlers,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida.
While using a stolen northeast Florida resident’s identity, prosecutors say, Mr. Nicholas sought to meet with the undercover agent to abuse their child. He also threatened “to expose the [undercover agent’s] purported criminal conduct unless the [agent] streamed live video of the ‘child’ to Mr. Nicholas.”
Prosecutors say Mr. Nicholas also sent the undercover agent six videos and two photographs depicting young children being abused.
Mr. Nicholas was sentenced Monday in federal court in Jacksonville, Florida, to 13 years and four months in prison. Along with custody, he must also register as sex offender and pay $81,500 in restitution to child victims.
