Online sting by UK agency leads to child pornography charges against Plainview man
An international online operation targeting potential sex offenders resulted in federal charges against a Plainview U.S. Postal Service supervisor accused of possessing images of child sexual abuse.
A federal grand jury on Wednesday returned an indictment against Jacob Cory Penton charging him with counts of receipt and distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor.
1/20/2022 UPDATE: Penton was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center. He is set to appear Friday before U.S. Magistrate judge D. Gordon Bryant for an initial appearance. Penton is represented by attorney Charles Chambers.
Penton's charges stem from a Texas Department of Public Safety investigation in July that started when Penton was flagged as a potential sex offender during a March undercover operation by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency.
Between March 2 and April 15, undercover agents reportedly spoke with Penton through the messaging application KiK.
"I love 6 and 10 lol young young," Penton reportedly wrote to the agents.
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Logs of the messages showed that Penton reportedly admitted to sexually abusing a teenage family member and admitted that he was sexually attracted to children.
In one message, Penton reportedly wrote that he had access to a 1-year-old girl, but that she was "just not quite old enough" for sexual activity.
After Penton was referred to local authorities, investigators obtained access to his KiK account and sifted through more than 800 images and videos. Investigators identified at least four images of child sexual abuse, which involved children ranging from 3 years old to 13 years old.
According to a LinkedIn profile associated with Penton, he is listed as a supervisor of customer service with the United States Postal Service.
Investigators learned that Penton lived in Plainview but was temporarily assigned to the Lubbock area USPS office for 90 days, according to the warrant.
Investigators met with Penton in August in Shallowater where they seized his phone.
According to the warrant, Penton provided investigators the passcode for his phone then he requested an attorney.
Court records show that Penton has not yet been arrested.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Online sting leads to child pornography charges against Plainview man
