Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, issued three disturbing press releases this week.
- North Little Rock Man Sentenced to 27 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Pornography
- Violent Sex Offender from Blytheville Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Pornography
- Russellville Man Sentenced to 17.5 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Production of Child Pornography
The disturbing common word in all three headlines: Production. What is going on in Arkansas? Let's examine these cases.
Alert to readers: The following cases contain graphic adult material.
The Troy Moseley III Case
On Jan. 28, 2023, Snapchat filed a cybertip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the news release from Ross' office.
"The cybertip included information that two videos were uploaded to Snapchat on January 28 and 29, 2023," the release stated. "The videos depicted an adult male engaging in sexual acts with a minor female."
On May 31, 2023, special agents with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office obtained the cybertip.
(It's unclear why it took four months for the Attorney General’s office to receive the tip.)
The Special Agents investigated and identified Troy Moseley, III of North Little Rock as the person who uploaded the videos to Snapchat.
On Sept. 27, 2023, Special Agents obtained a search warrant for the residence where Moseley resided.
The search revealed that the Wi-Fi password at the residence was only available to those who lived in the residence.
"Officers went to Moseley’s place of employment where he fled out the back door and into the woods," the release stated. "Officers located Moseley later in the day and took him into custody."
When he was arrested, Moseley had "a backpack that contained three electronic devices, suspected marijuana, a can of beer, and women’s thongs and panties," the release stated.
On September 28, 2023, Special Agents obtained a search warrant for the devices found in Moseley’s possession.
The release stated:
"During the execution of the search warrant on September 29, 2023, Special Agents discovered on one device over 100 images and videos containing child pornography and pictures of women taken in public places. One of the videos depicted Moseley following a woman in a department store, who was not aware of Moseley following her, and in the video, he is observed masturbating. Another video discovered on the device showed a tablet that was resting on a table that showed a photograph of a 3 or 4-year-old girl with Moseley recording himself masturbating while focused on the minor victim’s photograph.
"Another video discovered by Special Agents, which formed the basis for the production of child pornography count, depicted Moseley with his pants pulled down to his knees and masturbating while next to a sleeping 2-year-old girl who was strapped in a car seat. In this video, Moseley showed his face and is observed placing his penis closely to the minor victim’s face and near her mouth."
On Nov. 8, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Moseley on one count of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.
On July 22, 2025, Moseley, 26, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office and the North Little Rock Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant prosecuted the case.
Judge Lee P. Rudofsky sentenced Moseley to 27 years in federal prison for his production of child pornography. Rudofsky also sentenced Moseley to 10 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
The Jeremy Barnett Case
Jeremy Barnett of Blytheville had a long criminal history including convictions for criminal trespass, possession of marijuana, carrying a weapon, battery in the third degree and criminal mischief, and domestic battery in the second degree.
On October 5, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Barnett, 36, in a three-count indictment with being a felon in possession of firearms, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to a release from Ross' office.
An investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office and the Second Judicial District Drug Task Force began.
The investigation revealed that Barnett was trafficking methamphetamine and other controlled substances.
Law enforcement officers obtained a search warrant for Barnett’s residence. During the search, they recovered multiple firearms, marijuana, 94 methamphetamine pills, suspected oxycodone, suspected alprazolam, and other pills.
At the time of the search, Barnett had previous convictions for violent offenses, including battery in the third degree and domestic battery in the second degree, according to the release.
"While awaiting trial on the original Indictment, officers obtained information that Barnett had recorded himself engaging in various sex acts with a minor on multiple occasions," the release stated.
Officers then obtained a search warrant for Barnett’s phone and recovered videos of Barnett engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the minor victim.
On March 6, 2025, a two-count Superseding Information was filed charging Barnett with being a felon in possession of firearms and production of child pornography. On that same day, Barnett pleaded guilty to the counts in the Superseding Information.
United States District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr., sentenced Barnett to 20 years in federal prison.
The release stated: "This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Little Rock comprises agents and officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office, and the Second Judicial District Drug Task Force with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas."
The Jackson Whitt Case
On Jan. 18, 2024, a parent contacted local law enforcement.
The mother stated that her high school daughter let a friend, whose phone was broken, borrow her phone to log into her Instagram account.
The mother stated that when her daughter received the phone back from her friend, she noticed the Instagram account was still open under her friend’s account, according to the release from Ross' office.
The mother stated both she and her daughter observed explicit and obscene messages between the friend and an adult male on the Instagram account. Later the man was identified as Jackson Whitt of Russellville.
Whitt sent the minor victim numerous sexual images, videos, and messages. Whitt asked the minor victim to have phone sex with him. He also asked the minor victim to send him various photographs of her nude body parts.
On Jan. 25, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant for Whitt’s residence. They seized multiple electronic evidence.
Whitt’s cell phone contained approximately 150 different sexually explicit images of the minor victim and at least two videos.
During an online chat with the minor victim, Whitt requested the minor victim send him videos of her engaged in sadistic sexual behavior for his own self-gratification.
Whitt asked for photographs of the minor victim’s full body, her breasts, and her genitals. During a search of Whitt’s phone, investigators also observed several videos of child sexual abuse material of different children.
The Whitt investigation was conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with assistance from the Eufaula (Oklahoma) Police Department, Pope County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Arkansas State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristin Bryant and Shelby Shelton.
On May 7, 2024, a federal grand jury indicted Whitt on 17 counts of attempted production of child pornography, five counts of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.
On Feb. 6, 2025, Whitt pleaded guilty to attempted production of child pornography.
United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr. sentenced Whitt to 210 months in federal prison for attempted production of child pornography this week.
Judge Moody also sentenced Whitt to 10 years’ supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
Project Safe Childhood
The Moseley and Whitt cases were 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 and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Parents are encouraged to always monitor their children’s online activity.
