CONCORD – Marc Jacques was charged with an additional child exploitation offense for possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while on bail, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.
Marc Jacques, 50, was sentenced on September 9, 2024, to 60 months in federal prison and 5 years of supervised release for distributing child pornography. The court ordered the defendant to report to the Bureau of Prisons on or before December 2, 2024. On October 17, 2024, United States Probation filed a petition alleging that the defendant was in violation of his bail conditions and sought a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested on October 18, 2024. Search warrants executed by law enforcement on the defendant’s electronic devices revealed CSAM. The defendant was charged today with one count of possession of child pornography and will appear in federal court on January 14, 2025, for an initial appearance.
While on bail for the initial charge, the court-imposed bail conditions. As part of these conditions, the defendant was ordered to:
- Refrain from the possession or use of any internet capable media device unless preapproved by the supervising probation officer and submit to examination of any device owned or under the control of the defendant.
- To have no access to the internet unless preapproved by the supervising officer.
- To have computer monitoring software installed on any approved device which would be subject to periodic and unannounced examination by the supervising officer.
On August 10, 2024, the computer monitoring software captured screenshots from the defendant’s work laptop of the defendant accessing sexually explicit videos of suspected child pornography. On September 16, 2024, the computer monitoring software captured additional screenshots of the defendant accessing sexually explicit videos of suspected child pornography on the defendant’s work laptop.
On October 15, 2024, the United States Attorney’s Office contacted the defendant’s probation officer to discuss the defendant’s conditions of release. The probation officer’s review of the computer monitoring reports from August and September was evidently prompted by this contact. On October 16, 2024, after reviewing the computer monitoring reports and observing the activity noted above, the probation officer met with the defendant at his residence. During that meeting, the defendant surrendered an unauthorized flash drive to the probation officer.
A review of the unauthorized flash drive revealed several videos and images that appear to depict pubescent, minor females engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The videos contain a watermark suggesting that they were obtained through Telegram, which is an encrypted messaging platform often used to exchange CSAM.
The Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) provided valuable assistance. Assistant United States Attorney Kasey Weiland is prosecuting 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. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
