Arkansas Man Arrested For Attempting To Induce The Molestation Of A 9-Year-Old And Producing A Child Sex Abuse Video Using A Social Messaging App

Jacksonville, Florida – Cody Dillon Hogan (25, Leachville, Arkansas) has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville for attempting to induce the molestation of a 9-year-old child and the production of a child sex abuse video using a popular social messaging app. If convicted, Hogan faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervised release. Hogan was arrested at his residence in Leachville, Arkansas on November 9, 2020, and was subsequently detained pending trial in Jacksonville, which is scheduled for January 4, 2021.    

According to court documents and testimony, over a period of several weeks, an undercover FBI agent in Jacksonville, posing as the parent of a 9-year-old child, engaged in online conversations with Hogan using an online social messaging app. During these conversations, Hogan repeatedly solicited the “parent” to produce a pornographic video of the 9-year-old child and sent the undercover agent a $50 gift card as payment. Hogan also gave the “parent” detailed instructions as to how he wanted the “child” to be molested for the requested video. 

On November 9, 2020, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Hogan’s residence in Arkansas. When interviewed, Hogan admitted that he had had online conversations with the mother of the 9-year-old child about producing and sending him a pornographic video of the child. He also admitted to having sexually explicit conversations online with three additional minor children and convincing two of them to produce and send him pornographic images and videos. A forensic review of Hogan’s iPhone revealed that it contained at least 20-30 videos of prepubescent minor females, 4-8 years old, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville and Jonesboro, Arkansas, and the Jonesboro Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This is another case 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. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."