BANGOR, Maine — A West Gardiner man was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 50 years in prison for charges related to child sexual abuse material.
Jon A. Hall, 30, also known as L.J. "Little Jon," was sentenced to 600 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release after "transporting, receiving, distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material, as well as failing to register as a sex offender," the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Maine said in a news release. Hall was also ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution.
Court records show on Aug. 29, 2022, Maine State Police executed a search warrant in West Gardiner on Hall's person. Investigators seized Hall's iPhone and found child sexual abuse material on that phone, according to the release.
"Some of the images and video files depicted Hall sexually abusing a young child while earlier living in another state. The phone also included messages with a person in Maine while Hall was out of state. In many of those messages, Hall inquired about obtaining nude images of underage children and sent the user child sexual abuse material," the release stated. "There was also evidence of Hall receiving payments for the images via Cash App. The images were of victims under the age of 12 and included images Hall had solicited and received from boys he knew or met online."
Hall also pleaded guilty in April 2015 and was convicted of two counts of possessing sexually explicit material depicting a child under 12 and was notified of the requirement as a Tier III lifetime registrant of the sex offender registry to maintain current registration information, according to the release.
"Mr. Hall has a lengthy and troubling history that makes it clear that children are in danger as long as he is free," U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee said in the release. "Any sentence, no matter how lengthy, can only go so far in providing justice for such heinous acts inflicted upon children, but I hope it provides comfort to all he victimized. My office will continue to prioritize child exploitation prosecutions to protect Maine children from predators like Mr. Hall."
"Hall was a repeat offender who not only possessed and traded in child sexual abuse material, but directly abused and exploited children. His previous conviction shows he is clearly a danger to the community and today’s significant sentence will keep him away from children for a very long time," Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol with Homeland Security Investigations in New England said in the release. "With the conclusion of this case, we hope those he victimized can find some amount of closure and peace as they move forward."
To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt, or production of child pornography: File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.
