Former Preschool Teacher Jason Sherod Baldwin Pleads Guilty To Receipt Of Child Pornography

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former preschool teacher Jason Sherod Baldwin, 29, pleaded guilty on August 24 to purchasing sexually explicit images of children.

Baldwin was charged via criminal complaint in July 2020 and indicted less than a month later.

In plea papers, the former teacher at Dallas' Hockaday School, admitted that he used Kik, an encrypted messaging app popular among teenagers, to purchase links to child pornography from another Kik user. In chats, Baldwin requested "mainly preteen boy-on-boy vid[eo]s."

According to court documents, the investigation into Baldwin began after FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at the home of a convicted sex offender in Philadelphia. A search of the offender's phone revealed that he routinely used Kik to solicit payment for links child pornography. One of the accounts with which the offender communicated traced back to Baldwin.

On Oct. 29, Baldwin messaged the sex offender about purchasing child pornography. The offender shared a link to a "preview" folder and indicated the complete file set would cost $27. Baldwin sent the money through PayPal and received links to the files a few minutes later.

The investigation showed that Baldwin purchased child pornography from the offender several times over the ensuing months, on Nov. 11 ($13 for two videos of minor males), Dec. 8 ($10 for a video and more than 100 images), Dec. 18 ($12 for two videos), and Jan. 21 ($31 for seven videos).

In an interview with law enforcement after he was arrested, Baldwin admitted that he'd used Kik to purchase sexually explicit images of children. He said he had hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos of children stored on his cell phones, and that he had been viewing child porn for eight years.

He now faces between five and 20 years in federal prison.