Billings man sentenced for child sex material possession

Dylan Vidal Jefferson, 39, previously pleaded guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to a single count of child sexual abuse. The charge against Jefferson followed tips from a national organization which monitors sexual images and videos of children shared online.

“I don’t think we can overstate the nature and degree of harm caused to young children who are victimized by having their images placed on the internet,” said Yellowstone County District Judge Colette Davies, who presided over the sentencing. “And every time those images are transferred from one person to another, the opportunity for that victim to ever have the images removed from the internet becomes more and more remote.”

Between December 2022 and March 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received four cybertips regarding an online user uploading suspected child sex abuse material and chatting with others online about sexual fetishes centered on underage girls. All four tips came from social media platforms. The NCMEC, the central organization for reporting online child exploitation in the United States, forwarded the tips to a Montana Department of Criminal Investigation agent.

The agent linked the user who uploaded the child sex abuse material to Jefferson. Using two different accounts, Jefferson had uploaded to Instagram photos showing sexually explicit photos of teenage and prepubescent girls. In a fourth tip from Facebook, the agent uncovered message threads in which Jefferson appeared to be exchanging child sex abuse material with others, and describing a sexual encounter with a minor.

“I understand that these (messages) were investigated and found to not be a hands-on situation,” said Judge Davies, “but their explicit nature and the degree of detail takes my breath away.”

Yellowstone County deputies arrested Jefferson in late March 2023, and during an interview with DCI and FBI agents he admitted to receiving and distributing child sex abuse material. Shortly after, he pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse of children in which the victim is age 16 or younger. He left custody on bond, and immediately went into mental evaluation, then sex offender treatment, according to testimony shared at Jefferson’s sentencing on Wednesday.

Local clinical social worker Lisa Hjelmstad said in court she first met with Jefferson in April 2023. He’s been in treatment since August 2023, participating in treatment groups and therapy sessions centered on breaking an addiction to sex and pornography.

He’s also been placed in treatment groups specifically for sex offenders. Sex offender treatment generally takes three to four years to complete, barring any violation of the rules of the treatment plan or probation, Hjelmstad said. She estimated that Jefferson was about a third of the way through his treatment.

During the course of his treatment, Hjelmstad said Jefferson revealed that he’d also been sexually abused when he was eight years old. Prior to his arrest, Jefferson served in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq.

On his return, he became an advocate for veterans, voicing his support for the PACT Act in 2022, which assisted service members who came home from deployments with illnesses linked to toxic burn pits. He also led burial ceremonies for veterans in Lodge Grass, said Quincy Dabney, who testified on behalf of Jefferson and has served as the mayor of Lodge Grass for the past seven years.

County prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Jefferson in March in which he pleaded guilty to a single count of child sex abuse, but they did not come to a joint recommendation on his sentence. Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney Lacey Fortin asked Judge Colette for a 10-year sentence to Montana State Prison, with five years suspended. Fortin cited concerns that Jefferson’s behavior could escalate to contact offenses, going from watching and sharing child sex abuse material to sexually abusing children. While Jefferson did not physically molest any children, Fortin said, he did perpetuate the abuse of the children in the photos and videos he shared.

Alex Roth, who represented Jefferson, asked for a deferred sentence. A deferred sentence would allow a judge to drop the charge from Jefferson’s record, should he adhere to the conditions of his probation for a set period of time. Jefferson had also built a solid system of community support in Billings through his treatment groups and his family.

“Mr. Jefferson is not just taking therapy,” Roth said. “(He) is fully engaged. He is there to get better.”

Judge Colette said it was rare for her to see someone engage in sex offender treatment before they were even sentenced for a crime. A pre-sentence investigation also determined that Jefferson was at a low risk of reoffending.

“On the flip side,” she said, “the messages you sent were extraordinarily graphic.”

In her experience as a judge, she said she didn’t often see such sexually graphic messages about children, describing what Jefferson had shared online as “repugnant.” Colette sentenced Jefferson to 10 years in the Montana Department of Corrections, with five of those years suspended. The department will determine which facility and program will best suit Jefferson, she said.

Cybertips made to the NCMEC overwhelmingly consist of the uploading and sharing of child sex abuse material. Although no gender is immune from being victimized in child sex abuse material shared online, according to data from the center, underage girls are most frequently depicted. Since 2002, the center’s Child Victim Identification Program has identified nearly 20,000 victims in child sex abuse material produced in the United States.

“You perpetuated an ongoing child against a child,” Davies said.

When given the chance to speak, Jefferson said he was thankful to the judge and the prosecutor. At the time of his arrest, he said he was heading down a dark path and couldn’t find the help he needed. Now, he has no choice but to get help. Throughout his treatment, he said he’s learned to be a better husband and a better dad.