Former Minersville man sentenced for enticement of minors

Frank Andruscavage, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·2 min read

Nov. 19—A Middletown, New York, physician's assistant was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for enticement of minors.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Jonathan Weiss, 32, also known as Ian Jameson, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern.

The sentence is the result of Weiss, a former Minersville resident, pleading guilty on Dec. 9, 2021, to enticing seven minors to engage in sexual activity.

"Weiss's crimes are the nightmare of every parent," Williams said in a news release, adding that Weiss created a false online identity portraying himself as a young teen and used the false identity to exploit minors for his own sexual gratification.

"As today's sentencing underscores, we will continue to use every tool available to law enforcement to prosecute and punish those who seek to hide behind the wall of the Internet to sexually exploit children," Williams said.

Court documents show that in September 2019, Weiss communicated with a 13-year-old girl through Snapchat and directed the child to take and send sexually-explicit photographs to him.

Weiss used the Snapchat screen name "Ian_Jameson" and posed as a minor.

Weiss told the girl that if she did not send additional nude pictures to him, he would send her pictures she already sent to others.

In response to the threat, court papers said, the girl blocked Ian_Jameson on Snapchat and shortly after, people began telling her they received her nude photos.

Williams said that Weiss engaged in the same type of activity with six other minors — a 13-year-old in August 2019; a 13-year-old in May 2020; a 14-year-old in June 2018; a 16-year-old in February 2020; a 13-year-old in February 2019; and a 14-year-old in June 2019.

At the sentencing, Halpern stressed there was "no excuse" for Weiss' "despicable conduct."

In addition to the prison term, Halpern sentenced Weiss to 25 years of supervised release.

In announcing the sentencing, Williams praised the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, Putnam County Sheriff's Office, Clay County Sheriff's Office in Orange Park, Florida, Orange County Child Advocacy Center and Longview Police Department in Longview, Texas, for their work with the investigation.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia S. Cohen of the office's White Plains Division.