Tylertown Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

Hattiesburg, Miss. - A Tylertown, Mississippi man pled guilty to possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Jason Patrick Appeldorn, 46, pled guilty on January 10, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg.

According to court documents, on September 23, 2021, U.S. Probation officers executed a search of the premises at Appeldorn’s residence in Tylertown. Appeldorn had been under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office since November 29, 2017, because of a previous conviction for possession of child pornography in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  Appeldorn’s cellular telephone, recovered during the search, was forensically examined and several thousand visual depictions of child sexual abuse material of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct was recovered.  Appeldorn also admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography.

Appeldorn is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27, 2023 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case with the assistance of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Cyber Crimes Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.