ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone on Tuesday sentenced a man who recorded his sexual abuse of two girls to 35 years in prison.
One victim told authorities that Benjamin F. Sexton Jr., of Jefferson County, Missouri, sexually abused her between the ages of 7 and 14 and recorded the abuse. She said he restrained her at times and supplied her with methamphetamine. The second victim said Sexton abused her when she was 15. Investigators found child sexual abuse material that documented the abuse of both girls.
In 2023, the grandfather of one victim discovered explicit communications between that victim and Sexton and notified authorities.
Sexton, now 49, pleaded guilty in August to one count of production of child pornography, one count of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of receipt of child pornography.
As part of his plea agreement, Sexton agreed to forfeit items that had been seized by law enforcement, including computers, cameras and other electronic devices, two handguns, cell phones, night vision goggles and fraudulent $100 bills.
The St. Louis County Special Investigations Unit and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc .
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Eastern District of Missouri — U.S. Department of Justice press release.