A New Whiteland church elder and substitute teacher was sentenced on Friday after being charged with two child sex crimes.
As reported by the Daily Journal, Johnson Superior Court 3 Judge Douglas Cummins sentenced Nicholas P. Jackson, 40, to 120 days in the Johnson County jail to be followed by five years of probation.
The sentence is for a Level 5 felony charge of child solicitation and a Level 6 felony charge of dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
Jackson was Arrested in January 2024 After Exchanging Messages, Planning a Meet-Up with Person He Thought was a 14-Year-Old Girl
Jackson was arrested in January 2024 following a Nov. 29, 2023, child solicitation sting operation conducted by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Franklin Police, Edinburgh Police and other agencies.
He was not arrested the day of the roundup because he did not fully go through with meeting the person he thought was a 14-year-old girl that day. He was arrested after deputies learned he had returned from a mission trip to Guatemala, they said in court Friday.
Detectives corresponded with Jackson via a local group within Telegram, an encrypted chatroom app. Detectives spoke with him over a series of three days, with the third day being when Jackson allegedly drove to Greenwood to meet the girl.
Jackson Masturbated via Telegram Voice Call and Asked for Nude Images of the Girl, Sent Her a Picture of His Penis Taken
Jackson reportedly drove to the apartment complex where deputies were waiting for him the day of the sting, but did not go inside. Detectives say they witnessed him park at the complex, and they also have evidence he was in the area via license plate cameras and a bank deposit he made nearby.
Because Jackson did not fully go through with meeting the girl, the child solicitation charge was reduced to a Level 5 from the initial Level 4 felony in the open plea agreement. Russell Johnson, one of Jackson's attorneys, said in court this is because the crime becomes a Level 4 if someone meets a child with an intention of sexual contact.
Detectives say Jackson masturbated via Telegram voice call, asked for nude pictures of the girl and sent a picture of his penis to her. When they arrested him at the New Whiteland church where he previously worked, detectives saw the same flooring and office chair that appears in the picture, meaning he sent it at the church, they said in court.
Jackson was Also Accused of Possessing Child Pornography
Jackson was also initially charged with a Level 5 felony charge of possession of child pornography with an aggravating factor, but the charge was dropped because there was not definitive evidence Jackson had viewed the child sexual abuse images.
Although a deputy testified three images were found in a forensic download of Jackson's data from the Telegram app. However, Jackson's other attorney Kyle Johnson, poked holes in that evidence in court.
Kyle Johnson said the images within the download are all of the images in a pornography channel that Jackson accessed, and Jackson said he does not recall looking at those particular images. When asked in court, the deputy in charge of the download confirmed there is not specific proof he looked at the images in the Telegram metadata.
Jackson Told the Court He is Undergoing Faith-Based Therapy to Deal with His Porn Addiction, Admits to Committing 'A Sin Against God'
Since his release on bond, Jackson told the court he has been to weekly faith-based therapy to counter his self-professed porn addiction. He said he has his wife's support in the matter and is committed to staying away from temptation for her and their children.
What he did was "a sin against God" that was "rooted in idolatry." He took responsibility for falling victim to "temptation" and said he "grievously" failed God, his family and his brothers and sisters in Christ, he said in court. He said that he never intended to meet the girl, despite evidence from Telegram showing he asked multiple times to meet her.
