A Jefferson County man has been sentenced to 200 years in prison after admitting in federal court to creating and distributing child pornography. The man created and shared the images shortly after being released from prison after being convicted on charges for child molestation and endangering the welfare of a child, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office reported.
Jason Levi Meyrand, 31, whose last listed address in court records was in High Ridge, was sentenced on Feb. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey also ordered Meyrand to pay $6,000 in restitution to his victims, according to court documents.
Meyrand pleaded guilty in August to four counts of production of child pornography, court records said.
According to the guilty plea, a detective with the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce in January 2023 found posts by Meyrand in a Kik group that contained images of him sexually abusing two children, who were younger than 8 years old. Kik is a messenger app that can have up to 100 members in a private group.
Investigators used the username and email address Meyrand used to join the group to identify him, and when his phone was seized, investigators found pornographic images of children on the phone, the guilty plea said.
Meyrand admitted to joining and posting pictures in the Kik group, according to the guilty plea.
Court records show Meyrand was sentenced to eight years in prison in June 2014 after pleading guilty to charges of first-degree child molestation and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child in Bates County.
Assistant U.S. attorney Colleen Lang, who prosecuted the case, pointed out in court that Meyrand’s criminal conduct happened about six months after he finished his state sentence, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office reported.
The FBI, North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/psc.