Man Pleads Guilty: Soliciting, Paying For Production Of A Video: 9-Year-Old Child Being Molested

Jacksonville, Florida – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, June 16, 2021 Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office

Middle District of Florida

Arkansas Man Pleads Guilty To Soliciting And Paying For The Production Of A Video Depicting A 9-Year-Old Child Being Molested
Cody Dillon Hogan (26, Leachville, Arkansas) has pleaded guilty to using the internet to solicit and pay an individual to molest a 9-year-old child and to creating a video recording depicting this sexual abuse. Hogan faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. Hogan was arrested on November 9, 2020, at his residence in Arkansas and remains in custody. A sentencing date has not yet been set.     

According to court documents, in December 2019, an undercover FBI agent in Jacksonville, who was posing as a parent of a 9-year-old child, made contact with Hogan in a particular online chat application. During an online session, Hogan, using the online name “stonetelephone,” sent the undercover agent a photo of his own genitalia and asked for “naughty” photos of the purported 9-year-old “child.”  Hogan offered to pay the “parent” to create and send him a video of the “child” being sexually abused. Hogan gave specific instructions as to how he wanted to see the “child” molested in the video, and he sent the agent a $50 gift card as payment for the requested video. For several weeks, Hogan continued to solicit the undercover agent to produce and send him a video of the 9-year-old “child” being molested, and he provided advice on various ways to send it to him over the internet using group sharing accounts and online cloud storage. During one particular online chat, Hogan stated, “After I see this video there could be all kinds of money and requests coming your way lol.”

Subsequently, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Hogan’s residence in Arkansas and placed him under arrest. During an interview with FBI agents, Hogan admitted that he had engaged in online conversations with the mother of a 9-year-old child about producing and sending him a pornographic video of the child. He also stated that he had successfully solicited at least three other children to produce and send him sexually explicit photos of themselves. A search of Hogan’s cellphone and his homemade computer revealed that these devices contained hundreds of videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of young children, including sadistic and masochistic conduct.      

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville and Memphis and the Jonesboro (Arkansas) Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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 United States 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Topic(s): 
Project Safe Childhood
Component(s): 
USAO - Florida, Middle
Updated June 16, 2021