Jaiden Gyvan Petersen, a 24-year-old resident of Kennewick, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison by Senior United States District Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen.
The sentence comes as a result of Petersen's conviction on two counts of Production of Child Pornography. Judge Nielsen ordered that the prison terms for each count be served concurrently. Once Petersen completes his prison term, he will be placed under federal supervision for the remainder of his life. Furthermore, he has been ordered to pay $23,400 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
The case unfolded when the FBI received a CyberTip from Snapchat, alerting them to the online exploitation of children. It was revealed that child pornography had been transmitted through Snapchat's servers using Petersen's account. After being interviewed by law enforcement, Petersen admitted to being the owner of the Snapchat account and confessed to engaging in the distribution and receipt of child pornography over several years.
The investigation also revealed that Petersen had produced child pornography involving a six-year-old child when he was 17 years old. Subsequently, as an adult, he produced additional illicit materials involving two other children, aged 13 and 14, respectively. One of the victims was known to Petersen personally, while the other was someone he had met on Xbox Live. Petersen coerced both victims into creating and sending explicit images via Snapchat.
