Texas man sentenced to 27 years for child exploitation-related offenses

GALVESTON, Texas — On April 4, a judge sentenced a Southeast Texas man to 27 years in prison following multiple convictions for child exploitation related offenses.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston’s Galveston office, the Pearland Police Department and the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation.

Jake Delahney Taylor, a 38-year-old resident of Brazoria, was convicted Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas of sexual exploitation of a child, distribution and possession of child pornography and destruction of property. Taylor pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and destruction of property on Jan. 20, 2022. He was later found guilty of the sexual exploitation of a child and distribution of child pornography following a one-day bench trial.

Taylor was ordered to serve 324, 240 and 120 months for the production, distribution and possession convictions, respectively. He was also sentenced to 60 months in prison for destruction of evidence. All the convictions will run concurrently for a total of 324 months in prison.

The judge also ordered Taylor to serve 10 years on supervised release following his prison term. During that time, he must comply with requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He must also register as a sex offender.

The investigation revealed that Taylor had surreptitiously recorded a 13-year-old female relative while she was in the bathroom on five different occasions. Taylor edited the videos to create still images of the victim that depicted her private areas. He then sent some of these images to other people on Kik with whom he had discussed his sexual interest in children.

The child’s mother found some of the images and contacted law enforcement, which led to a search. Authorities found electronic devices containing 118 images and 134 videos of the minor victim. Taylor also had 84 videos and 24 images of child sexual abuse material in his collection.

At the hearing, the court heard additional information regarding the impact Taylor’s conduct had on the victim’s family, which helped lead to the significant prison sentence.

Taylor will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Leo and Sherin Daniel are prosecuting the case.

For more news and information on HSI’s efforts to aggressively investigate child exploitation and child pornography in Southeast Texas follow us on Twitter @HSIHouston.

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’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.