Convicted sex crime violator to get 10-year jail time

PADUCAH, Ky. — A man who was charged by federal prosecutors with producing child pornography after former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin commuted his state sex crime convictions has entered a guilty plea.

Dayton Jones, 27, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty Wednesday (Oct. 20) to the charge during a proceeding in federal court in Paducah, news outlets reported. A plea deal calls for Jones to be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The federal charge stemmed from events that led to sodomy and other charges against him by Kentucky prosecutors in 2014. Jones was a few years into a 15-year sentence when Bevin commuted the sentence in 2019, nullifying the case in state court. Federal prosecutors charged Jones the following year.

Bevin issued hundreds of pardons before leaving office, attracting criticism from lawmakers, prosecutors and victims for a handful of pardons of violent felons that appeared to be politically motivated.

Jones had pleaded guilty in state court to assaulting a 15-year-old boy who had passed out from drinking with a sex toy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Hancock said Jones took a video of the assault and sent it to others using Snapchat. One person who received the video turned it in to law enforcement, leading to the federal charge, Hancock said.

Jones is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 9, 2022.