Dayton Jones of Hopkinsville has entered a guilty plea in federal court to the production of child pornography following a Wednesday court appearance before U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell.
Jones had previously agreed to change his plea from not guilty and was given the Wednesday court date in order to do so.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the 27-year-old Jones faces a 10-year sentence and agreed to pay the victim $50,000 in restitution. Jones will be sentenced in federal court on February 9 with Judge Russell to decide whether Jones will receive credit for time served in state custody and determine how he will be supervised once his sentence ends.
Jones was charged with creating a video depicting child pornography and shared the video with others, using the social media app Snapchat. A fifteen-year-old male juvenile was passed out from alcohol intoxication with the indictment alleging several other males took turns sexually assaulting him with a sex toy. Jones can be heard talking during the video.
The case attracted statewide attention when former Governor Matt Bevin commuted Jones’ 15-year sentence in December 2019. Jones was serving time in jail after he pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal in 2016 in Christian County Circuit Court on charges of sodomy, wanton endangerment, and distribution of material depicting the sexual performance
Jones, along with Sam Miller, Colton Cavanaugh, and Tyler Perry have pleaded guilty to various charges related to the assault that caused life-threatening injuries to the victim.
