A Connecticut man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after authorities said he shared child sexual abuse materials with an undercover investigator in a group chat in 2022.
Joel Huntsman, also known as “Jay Huntsman, “Joel Feser,” and “Jay Blackburn”, 37, of Preston faced sentencing in federal court in New Haven on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Federal officials said U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden ordered that Huntsman’s prison sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. In September, Huntsman pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography, officials said.
According to authorities, a police officer in New Albany, Ohio, was conducting an undercover operation in June 2022 when multiple people were found to be posting child pornography in a private group chat on the Kik mobile messenger app. One of the users was later identified as Huntsman, officials said.
The allegations involving Huntsman were relayed to Connecticut State Police, officials said. The same month, Kik submitted a CyberTip involving Huntsman to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to authorities.
In November 2022, FBI agents carried out a search and seizure warrant at Huntsman’s residence, seizing multiple items. Among the evidence that was seized were two cell phones, which were analyzed and found to contain child sex abuse images and videos, officials said.
Huntsman has been in custody since he was arrested in January 2023.