Jesse Galayda, 33, of High Ridge has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after admitting to sexually abusing a child. He previously was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, court records show.
On Wednesday, June 26, Galayda pleaded guilty to first-degree statutory sodomy, sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy. Jefferson County Div. 4 Circuit Judge Brenda Stacey sentenced him to 24 years in prison for first-degree statutory sodomy and seven years each for sexual exploitation of a minor and the three second-degree statutory sodomy charges, according to court documents.
Galayda will serve his sentences concurrently, or at the same time, court records said.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Shannon O’Neal handled the case.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, Galayda had an inappropriate relationship with the child from January 2015 through December 2021, who was younger than 16 years throughout that period.
The victim said Galayda recorded the abuse, and Galayda showed the victim child pornography. Investigators seized Galayda’s desktop computer on May 18, 2022, and they found more than 1,000 images of child pornography, the report said.
Galayda admitted to accessing the “Dark Web” to view child pornography and said he had tried to quit looking at child pornography for a while, according to the report.
Galayda pleaded guilty to the federal possession of child porn on April 19, 2023, and U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp sentenced Galayda on July 27, 2023, court documents said.