Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JONATHAN WEISS, a/k/a “Ian_Jameson,” was sentenced to 25 years in prison by United States District Judge Philip M. Halpern for his enticement of seven minors to engage in sexual activity. The sentencing today followed WEISS’s guilty plea on December 9, 2021.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Weiss’s crimes are the nightmare of every parent. Weiss created a false online identity, portraying himself as a young teen, and used this 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.”
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:
In September 2019, WEISS communicated online via Snapchat with a 13-year-old minor (“Victim-1”) and directed Victim-1 to take and send sexually explicit photographs of Victim-1 to WEISS. WEISS utilized the Snapchat screen name “Ian_Jameson” and posed as a minor. WEISS told Victim-1 that if she did not send more nude pictures to WEISS, he would send the pictures she had already sent to others. In response to the threats to send her pictures to others, Victim-1 “blocked” “Ian_Jameson” on Snapchat. Shortly thereafter, people began telling her that they had received her nude images.
WEISS engaged in the same type of activity with six other minors: a 13-year-old minor (“Victim-2”) in August 2019, a 13-year-old minor (“Victim-3”) in May 2020, a 14-year-old minor (“Victim-4”) in June 2018, a 16-year-old minor (“Victim-5”) in February 2020, a 13-year-old minor in February 2019 (“Victim-6”), and a 14-year-old minor (“Victim-7”) in June 2019.
At the sentencing today, Judge Halpern underscored that there was “no excuse” for the defendant’s “despicable conduct.”
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In addition to the prison term, Judge Halpern sentenced WEISS, 32, of Middletown, New York, to 25 years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office in Orange Park, Florida, the Orange County Child Advocacy Center, and the Longview Texas Police Department in Longview, Texas, in connection with this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia S. Cohen is in charge of the prosecution.