Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that yesterday Jason Elliott (age 43) with a last known address of 144 Gallup Street, Providence, pleaded nolo contendre before Superior Court Justice Kristin E. Rodgers to possession of child pornography, transfer of child pornography, and multiple counts of indecent solicitation of a minor. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Elliott was sentenced to a total of 12 years with four years to serve and the remainder suspended with probation. Of the four years to serve, Elliott will serve the first two years at the ACI followed by two years on home confinement. In addition, he must undergo sex offender counseling and comply with the sex offender registration and community notification statute. He was ordered to have no contact with the juveniles whom he solicited, cannot reside with or have unsupervised contact with anyone 17 years of age or under, and his access to computers and the Internet was severely restricted.
At the time of his arrest in November 2013, Elliott was an organizer and coach for the Rhode Island Hawks AAU youth basketball program.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that a Rhode Island State Police search of the defendant's computer uncovered in excess of 500 child pornographic images and videos. It was later determined through a forensic investigation of the computer that the defendant shared child pornographic images with other individuals. Additionally, the defendant established a fake profile of a teenage girl on the Kik messenger app to entice teenage boys to send him illicit photos.
"Hiding behind the mask of coach and mentor was a deviant sexual predator," said Attorney General Kilmartin. "As distasteful as it may be to think or talk about a distasteful case such as this, parents should use this as an opportunity to speak with their children about how to protect themselves online, especially when asked for indecent images and personal information. There are many apps and websites that allow sexual predators to pretend they are someone they are not with the goal of exploiting children for their own sexual pleasure. It is a scary and disturbing thought for parents to consider, but one that needs to be addressed."
The Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit led the investigation. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Gendron prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.