Des Moines federal judge gives man 60-year sentence for relentless sexual pursuit of underage girls

There were multiple chances, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger said, for Jonathan Speidel to change his behavior.

Speidel, 31, was charged last year with nearly 30 federal offenses for preying on underage girls, ranging from possessing and sharing images of child pornography to child exploitation and travelling across state lines to pursue sex with minors. He pleaded guilty to four charges, and on Friday, Ebinger sentenced him to 60 years in federal prison.

As described in court Friday, Speidel, originally of Des Moines, spent more than a decade collecting and sharing child pornography online and interacting with underage girls as young as 8 years old on Snapchat and other online platforms. Speidel encouraged them to make and share pornographic images of themselves and pursued sexual encounters, including at times forcible rapes, with multiple minors, first in Des Moines and later in Oregon and Washington, prosecutors said.

Related:Des Moines man sentenced to 30 years for attempted production of child porn over Snapchat

Speidel's attorney, Joseph Herrold, said during Friday's hearing that Speidel had spent much of his life escaping into an "internet rabbit hole," and that he "needed an intervention" that only came when he was charged. But prosecutors noted, and Ebinger agreed, that Speidel had ignored several would-be wake-up calls, including a 2019 arrest after he was caught in a park with a 15-year-old girl.

He continued pursuing girls after Snapchat closed his account in 2022, starting a new one. And even after investigators obtained a search warrant and searched his home, Speidel kept up his illicit pursuits, according to prosecutors, stopping only when he was finally arrested and charged.

"The amount of harm caused by this defendant is almost overwhelming," Ebinger said.

Statements

Now grown women he pursued as girls online said Speidel left deep scars on them.

Two victims gave statements Friday, one by herself and another read by a victim advocate. One is now 18, the other 28, but both were minors when they first encountered Speidel nearly a decade apart.

They told similar stories: They had deep emotional vulnerabilities due to past abuse by others and Speidel offered praise, affirmation and attention they desperately craved, but then gradually pushed them into more and more extreme sexual behavior, at times bragging about "corrupting" and "brainwashing" them.

Both women said they became deeply estranged from friends and family due to their connections with Speidel, and continue to struggle to form healthy relationships and maintain their self-esteem, even years later. Both have attempted suicide.

The younger woman said her relationship with Speidel left her deeply damaged, emotionally and sexually.

"I was perverted and was conditioned to believe thoughts I was thinking were perfectly OK," she said, adding that she feels now like a "predator" because of how Speidel encouraged her to think and act.

"I can't stand to be alone because I can't stand to think how different I would be if I hadn't met you," she told him.

More:Man who faked his own death to avoid child pornography charges sentenced

The older woman, in her statement, described years of lying to and pushing away her friends and family to cover for Speidel, even after he had repeatedly raped her.

"He has discolored the way I see the world every day since I met him," she said.

Speidel's crimes 'off the chart'

As Ebinger put it, Speidel's crimes were "off the chart" Federal sentencing guidelines generated a score for the seriousness of his offenses well above the maximum possible value. The guidelines recommended a sentence of life in prison.

Prosecutor Kyle Essley urged Ebinger to follow that recommendation, noting that Spiedel solicited obscene images from more than 20 victims and had ongoing sexual relationships with at least five, all while they were underage, in addition to more than 100 minor victims identified in Speidel's collection of child pornography.

"Perhaps the defendant was able to escape during these moments (of abuse), but the victims weren't, and never will be," he said.

More:Ankeny man gets 30 years for exploiting minors in online chatrooms

Herrold said Speidel understands the seriousness of his crimes, and asked Ebinger to vary downward from the recommended life sentence.

"There are no short sentences available in this case, and we are not here asking for one," he told her, acknowledging that Speidel faced "decades" in prison.

Speidel also spoke, apologizing to the victims and their families as well as his own family and telling the judge he was there to "plead for mercy."

"I truly am a sensitive person, and I never intended for my actions to cause so much damage," he said.

Ebinger delivered the sentence, which includes lifetime supervision as a sex offender and tens of thousands of dollars in restitution even after Speidel leaves prison, and told him she wished him well. She also had parting words for the several victims who attended, thanking them for their courage and wishing them peace and health.

"This does not define you," she told them.

This article has been edited to correct the name of the owner of a collection of child pornography that figured in the case.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa man gets 60 years for exploiting, abusing minors he met online