Photo secretly taken of girl at CVS leads international agents to NC child porn suspect
Photographs of young girls secretly recorded in public and shared online led investigators abroad to a 37-year-old man in North Carolina.
Now he’s headed to prison.
Jason Michael Miles was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to child pornography charges earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said Thursday in a news release. Miles is from Forest City in Rutherford County, about 65 miles west of Charlotte.
A public defender appointed to represent Miles did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Friday.
In court filings, his attorney pushed for a lighter sentence following Miles’ guilty plea, saying he had time to rethink his actions while in jail on state court charges. She said Miles has since gotten married, removed the “basement office” he previously used to look at child porn and joined a Baptist church.
“Jason has been very candid and honest with the church about what he has done,” his attorney said in court documents. “He made an agreement with the church setting terms regarding his behavior both in and outside of the church. He has specifically agreed to no participation in any youth ministry. He has stuck to his agreement.”
The case dates to February 2018, when investigators in New Zealand discovered someone using the name “PURSEANON” was posting pictures of children on an image website.
At least 15 albums were uploaded with that username — all showing pictures of “young girls secretly taken in public places,” prosecutors said. One of the albums was reportedly titled “Girl at CVS.”
According to court documents, the photograph contained GPS data showing it was taken in Morganton, North Carolina.
An undercover agent began communicating with the person posting the pictures about his “interest in children,” prosecutors said. After two days, they were able to identify him as Miles and transferred the case to Homeland Security in Hendersonville.
Federal agents searched Miles’ home three months later, prosecutors said. They reportedly found 40 video files of child pornography downloaded onto a USB and an “extensive library” of nearly 7,200 pictures showing children being sexually abused.
A grand jury indicted Miles in August and he was arrested shortly thereafter, court filings show. He pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography in February.
Miles was previously registered as a sex offender stemming from a 2007 conviction. Prosecutors said he served four years in prison on two counts of indecent liberties with a child under 16.
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