Preston Man Charged with Child Exploitation Offenses

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Jean Pierre Njock, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that JOEL HUNTSMAN, also known as “Jay Huntsman, “Joel Feser,” and “Jay Blackburn”), 34, of Preston, was arrested yesterday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with child exploitation offenses.

After his arrest, Huntsman appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained.

As alleged in court documents, in June 2022, the Kik mobile messenger application submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) that a user, subsequently identified as Huntsman, had distributed child sex abuse images and videos to another Kik user.  On November 2, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a court-authorized search of Huntsman’s residence and seized multiple items, including two mobile phones.  Analysis of the seized phones revealed images of child pornography.

The complaint charges Huntsman with distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and with possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Connecticut State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Cummings and Nancy V, Gifford.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.