ALBANY, Ga. – A Valdosta, Georgia, couple who admitted to producing child sexual assault material involving multiple minor victims was sentenced to the maximum prison term allowed by law today for their crimes.
Jayson E. Wright, 36, was sentenced to serve the maximum 360 months in prison per count consecutively for a total of 720 months in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release and $625,000 in restitution to four victims after he previously pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography. Kara Wright, 33, was sentenced to serve 360 months in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release and $415,000 in restitution to four victims after she previously pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography. Both defendants will have to register as sex offenders for life upon their release from federal prison. The sentences were handed down by U.S. District Judge Louis Sands at the C.B. King U.S. Courthouse in Albany. There is no parole in the federal system.
“The Wrights have justifiably received the maximum prison sentences allowed under law for their unconscionable and heinous acts against children,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will do everything in our power to protect children from predators such as the Wrights who deviously take advantage of a child’s vulnerability.”
“The defendants’ heinous predatory behavior is deserving of a lengthy prison sentence to ensure they cannot inflict further harm on other victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “We are very appreciative of the invaluable assistance and teamwork we receive from our law enforcement partners on cases like this.”
“The close working relationship between the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and our state and federal partners is crucial to capturing child predators like the Wrights and holding them accountable so they will never harm another innocent child,” said Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn Semales prosecuted the case with support from Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Kalim.