Former Hockaday Teacher Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography
Jason Baldwin, 29, a former Hockaday teacher, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of receipt of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Baldwin was charged via criminal complaint in July 2020 and indicted less than a month later, authorities say. He faces between five and 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorneys’ office for the Northern District of Texas.
(Read: Hockaday Teacher Arrested on Child Pornography Charges)
In plea papers, Baldwin admitted that he used Kik, an encrypted messaging app popular among teenagers, to purchase links to child pornography from another Kik user.
The investigation into Baldwin began after FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at the home of a convicted sex offender in Philadelphia, and a search of the offender’s phone revealed that he routinely used Kik to solicit payment for links to child pornography, according to court documents. One of the accounts with which the offender communicated traced back to Baldwin, authorities say.
Baldwin messaged the offender Oct. 29 about purchasing child pornography and the offender shared a link to a “preview” folder and indicated the complete file set would cost $27, according to court documents. Baldwin sent the money through PayPal and received links to the files a few minutes later, according to law enforcement.
The investigation revealed Baldwin purchased child pornography from the offender several times over the ensuing months, on Nov. 11 ($13 for two videos of minor males), Dec. 8 ($10 for a video and more than 100 images), Dec. 18 ($12 for two videos), and Jan. 21 ($31 for seven videos), court documents state.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Bureau’s Philadelphia Field Office.
