Booking photo for Jack Melton Flint. (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 25-year-old Logan man and former instructor at Utah State University has pleaded guilty to sharing child pornography over the internet. Jack M. Flint was originally arrested last October after law enforcement discovered that he had been exchanging pictures and videos of teenage boys.
Flint participated in a virtual hearing Monday afternoon in 1st District Court, appearing by web conference. He accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; and two counts of enticing a minor by internet or text, a third-degree felony.
As part of the plea agreement, five remaining charges against the defendant were dismissed.
According prosecutors, on Sept. 16, Logan City police officers began investigating Flint after receiving a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It described how the defendant used an internet site in which anonymous video and text chats can occur.
The tip outlined a chat message, sent by Flint to another user. In it, he claimed to be a 17-year-old boy and invited the other individual to join a 14 to 18-year-old Snapchat group by sending a picture of his genitals.
Police learned the group was used by the suspect to exchange multiple images and videos of teenage boys. Chat logs of the user account “showed many individuals identifying themselves as under the age of 18 and sending pornographic photos” to Flint, according to an arrest report.
During Monday’s court appearance, Flint waived his rights to a fair trial and pleaded guilty to the charges.
At the time of his arrest, Flint was an employment specialist and instructor in the USU EmployAbility Clinic at the Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice (IDRPP). He was immediately instructed to not return to his worksite at USU or visit any job sites.
USU spokesperson Amanda DeRito said, “The safety of USU students, employees, and the public we serve is our top priority, and the university and IDRPP will cooperate with the investigation. IDRPP’s standard practice when working in schools with individuals who are under the age of 18 is to work in tandem, where individuals are not left alone with students.”
Flint is currently out of jail on $50,000 bail. He could face up to 15 years in prison at sentencing.
will@cvradio.com