Benjamin F. Sexton Jr., 49, who lives in the Jefferson County portion of Fenton, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of recording his abuse of two girls over a seven-year period, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office announced.
U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone sentenced Sexton on Jan. 13. In August, Sexton had pleaded guilty to charges of production of child pornography, coercion and enticement of a minor and receipt of child pornography, according to court documents.
As part of his plea agreement, Sexton agreed to forfeit items that had been seized by law enforcement, including computers, cameras and other electronic devices, two handguns, cell phones, night vision goggles and fraudulent $100 bills, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in December 2023 charged Sexton with seven counts of first-degree rape or attempted statutory rape of a person younger than 14 years old; five counts of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy deviant sexual intercourse with a person younger than 14 years old; and one count of first-degree statutory sodomy with deviant sexual intercourse with a person younger than 14 years old, all unclassified felonies; as well as one count of first-degree child molestation, a class B felony; and one count of second-degree statutory rape, a class D felony, court records show.
Each of the unclassified felonies is punishable by five years to life in prison. The class B felony is punishable by five to 15 years in prison, and the class D felony carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
Sexton is scheduled to appear in Jefferson County Court on Feb. 10, court documents said.
According to the guilty plea and probable-cause statement in the Jefferson County case, the abuse of one of the girls began in 2016 and occurred at hotels in St. Louis County and Eureka, other locations in Fenton and the Jefferson County portion of Fenton, as well as in other parts of Jefferson County, St. Louis County and Franklin County.
The guilty plea document said Sexton and the girl were seen in surveillance videos at two different hotels in 2022 and 2023.
Sexton allegedly filmed the sexual assaults and showed the girl pornographic videos. The girl also said Sexton coerced her into sending nude photos of herself to him through Snapchat, according to the probable-cause statement.
The girl said Sexton often gave her drugs, and a hair follicle from the girl was tested and came back positive for methamphetamine, the report said.
Sexton used meth in the past, the probable-cause statement said.
In the guilty plea, Sexton admitted to abusing another girl in 2014. Investigators confirmed Sexton brought that girl to a hotel room in July 2014, and they found pornographic images of the girl on Sexton’s Google account.
Assistant U.S. attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
The St. Louis County Special Investigations Unit, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and FBI investigated the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/psc.