Missouri man pleads guilty to child sexual abuse, sharing videos online following HSI Kansas City investigation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeffrey A. Knight, 32, pleaded guilty in federal court Aug. 8 to recording his sexual abuse of a seven-year-old victim and sharing a video of the abuse online. The plea followed a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City probe.

Knight, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of producing child pornography. He admitted that he used his iPhone to create an image and two video recordings of his sexual abuse of a child victim on Feb. 2, 2020. He then distributed one of those videos over the internet.

Knight also admitted that he sexually abused the child victim on multiple occasions until April 2022.

Knight possessed and trafficked child sexual abuse material since at least 2013. He routinely used messaging apps such as Telegram to send and receive child sexual abuse material over the internet. He also paid to join online groups that focused on trafficking child sexual abuse material and trafficked such material with other members of those groups.

Knight uploaded hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse material to his online storage accounts, including Google and Dropbox, from 2013 until his arrest on Feb. 3, 2023. He possessed hundreds of these images and videos at the time of his arrest.

Officials will schedule his sentencing hearing the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation.

HSI Kansas City investigated this case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth W. Borgnino is prosecuting.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. attorneys' offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. Visit Project Safe Childhood for more information.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about our mission to counter illegal narcotics in the community on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HSIKansasCity.