Soddy Daisy Man Sentenced To 85 Months For Possession Of Child Pornography

  • Monday, February 1, 2016

A judge on Monday sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography to 85 months in federal prison.  

Jason Collins of Soddy Daisy appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Sandy Mattice Monday morning. The judge accepted the plea agreement, dropping the charges against Collins for distribution and receipt of child pornography.

He ordered Collins to seek mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, and sex offender treatment while in jail. 

On Aug.

1, 2013 agents searched the defendant’s home. They targeted his residence after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off Detective Dan Schneider. 

During the search the agents confiscated Collins’ computer and media storage devices. They found nearly 82,000 images and over 1,000 videos of child pornography.

In a statement to Det. Schneider, Collins confessed to downloading child pornography via the Internet. He was arrested on counts of distributing, possession, and receipt of child pornography.

During his sentencing hearing Gianna Maio, Collins’ attorney, said Collins has suffered from mental illnesses since boyhood. Among other illnesses, he has bipolar disorder, Ms. Maio said. 

In the summer of 2013, she said Collins stopped taking his medications. As a result he engaged in risky and manic behavior without regard to the consequences, she said.       

She said that is the reason why there was inflation in how much child pornography Collins downloaded.

According to prosecutor Terra Bay, the defendant used Peer to Peer (P2P) software to make the pornography available to others. He also used image boards to speak with people about child pornography, Ms. Bay said.  

Ms. Maio said though Collins had P2P for about three years, he hardly used it until he went off his medications, exemplifying his risky behavior. She argued the sentence should be reduced since Collins acted under an untreated mental illness.  

Judge Mattice said one of the most startling things about the case was the “sheer volume” of child pornographic images stored. He said the law equates the number of images with the severity of the case because of the increased harm to the victims.   

Logic says Collins accumulated the images over a period of time, the judge said. Then he transferred to storage devices, indicating the volume “overwhelmed the memory of the computer.”

The judge agreed Collins’ mental health issues were “significant.” But, he asked if mental health issues should relate to a shorter period of incarceration.  

“There was something seriously going wrong at the time he was engaging in this,” Ms. Maio said. She stated the offense may have been lesser had Collins been on his medication. 

Ms. Bay read Collins’ statement, which said he had been downloading child pornography “about two to three years.”

She revealed this as clear evidence the defendant engaged in this crime for a longer time than just the summer of 2013 when he stopped taking his medications.

“There are more people hurt in this case than there are in most child pornography cases,” she said. 

She noted the pair of child’s underwear the agents found in the defendant’s room. The defendant said previously he “picked them up when visiting someone’s house.”

Nevertheless, there was reportedly zero evidence Collins was a danger to the public. 

Because of the amount of medications he was on, he sat during the hearing, rocking back and forth in his chair.

Before sentencing him to 85 months in prison, the judge gave Collins a chance to speak. 

Collins stood to a crouch. He said his offense would not have happened had he “stuck” with his medications. “I didn’t intend to hurt anyone…and I would like to apologize to everyone involved,” he said. 

Along with his sentence, the judge ordered Collins to pay restitution for a total of $3,500 to the Lighthouse Series, Cindy Series, and 8 Kids Series victims. The judge also placed Collins on a 15-year probation. 

“Whether you intended it or not,” Judge Mattice said, “the fact is many were harmed by this case.”

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